Online Passport renewal

[Diana]

Wags wrote:
[quote=special]
[quote=Wags]
How long does it take? I’m 2 or 3 weeks into it, not hearing anything.

It took 10-14 days with normal processing last year in September or October.

however, now the Real ID is coming up and it's hard to get RealID appointment at my state's DMV. My guess some people get passports instead. Also Summer travel is coming up, although I doubt people travel as much as they did in 23 and 24 with all this bullshit and stock market roller coaster.
I made a request to get an appointment for a real id from the dmv. Took about a week before they called me and I was told I needed my birth certificate. I can’t remember ever seeing it. That makes it difficult.
Order one from the state you were born. All I had was the hospital record of birth, which has sufficed for years until I had to get the Real ID. If you weren’t born in the US, then I don’t know.

[N-OS X-tasy!]

Speedy wrote:
I have the RealID and enhanced drivers license which is good for land crossings. Last time we drove into Mexico we stopped at the Mexican port and they told us that this type of license allows me to enter Mexico as long as I stay in the 30km exclusion zone. (It is very quaint crossing into Mexico because checks at the crossing are rare; we normally roll right through. The return north takes about an hour and a half.)

Where do you cross at?

[NewtonMP2100]

…..so the Real ID…..is the real deal……???

[macphanatic]

Passport card is good for land crossing and cruise ships.

If you're a female who's been married, did name change, got divorced, and any combination thereof afterwards, RealID can be a PITA. Woman I know needed her first marriage certificate, divorce decree, and second marriage certificate in addition to the other documents. If the person is older, finding the first marriage certificate and divorce decree can be challenging. It's much easier to get a passport card.

The RealID requirement to have a piece of mail addressed to you is stupid. My son went to renew his drivers licence using the renewal card that the DMV mailed to him. This wasn't acceptable. He had everything else. He had to mail an envelope to himself to complete the process.

[pqrst]

My mom is a senior. And unable to leave house. So before her driver’s license expired (she not driving), I put in for a passport and passport card. She ended up in a care home, and the passport and card should be good for identification for the next ten years. So getting them is good plan for more reasons then travel.

[Janit]

special wrote:
[quote=Wags]
How long does it take? I’m 2 or 3 weeks into it, not hearing anything.

It took 10-14 days with normal processing last year in September or October.

however, now the Real ID is coming up and it's hard to get RealID appointment at my state's DMV. My guess some people get passports instead. Also Summer travel is coming up, although I doubt people travel as much as they did in 23 and 24 with all this bullshit and stock market roller coaster.
When is your driver's license set to renew? NJ allows upgrade to realID with ordinary license renewal in the 3 months prior to license expiration, and an appointment for a license renewal is easy to get. In NJ, the "realID" appointments are for people whose license is NOT scheduled to renew soon, and those appointments are really hard to get.

It's worth checking whether your state makes this distinction.

[special]

I have Real ID, but I was looking for appointment for my son who does not.

[Speedy]

N-OS X-tasy! wrote:
[quote=Speedy]
I have the RealID and enhanced drivers license which is good for land crossings. Last time we drove into Mexico we stopped at the Mexican port and they told us that this type of license allows me to enter Mexico as long as I stay in the 30km exclusion zone. (It is very quaint crossing into Mexico because checks at the crossing are rare; we normally roll right through. The return north takes about an hour and a half.)

Where do you cross at?
Texas-Tamaulipas. Reynosa-Hidalgo is our usual crossing but the line today was the longest we’ve ever seen so, since we had time, we crossed at Rio Bravo-Donna: 1h 10m. Reynosa-Hidalgo would have been two+ hours. Our home is half way between the two crossings so the extra drive to get to the Rio Bravo crossing is less painful.

The CBP app times-to-cross are ludicrous.

[vision63]

Speedy wrote:
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
[quote=Speedy]
I have the RealID and enhanced drivers license which is good for land crossings. Last time we drove into Mexico we stopped at the Mexican port and they told us that this type of license allows me to enter Mexico as long as I stay in the 30km exclusion zone. (It is very quaint crossing into Mexico because checks at the crossing are rare; we normally roll right through. The return north takes about an hour and a half.)

Where do you cross at?
Texas-Tamaulipas. Reynosa-Hidalgo is our usual crossing but the line today was the longest we’ve ever seen so, since we had time, we crossed at Rio Bravo-Donna: 1h 10m. Reynosa-Hidalgo would have been two+ hours. Our home is half way between the two crossings so the extra drive to get to the Rio Bravo crossing is less painful.

The CBP app times-to-cross are ludicrous.
Crossing over used to be virtually nothing at all. It was great.

[Speedy]

vision63 wrote:
[quote=Speedy]
[quote=N-OS X-tasy!]
[quote=Speedy]
I have the RealID and enhanced drivers license which is good for land crossings. Last time we drove into Mexico we stopped at the Mexican port and they told us that this type of license allows me to enter Mexico as long as I stay in the 30km exclusion zone. (It is very quaint crossing into Mexico because checks at the crossing are rare; we normally roll right through. The return north takes about an hour and a half.)

Where do you cross at?
Texas-Tamaulipas. Reynosa-Hidalgo is our usual crossing but the line today was the longest we’ve ever seen so, since we had time, we crossed at Rio Bravo-Donna: 1h 10m. Reynosa-Hidalgo would have been two+ hours. Our home is half way between the two crossings so the extra drive to get to the Rio Bravo crossing is less painful.

The CBP app times-to-cross are ludicrous.
Crossing over used to be virtually nothing at all. It was great.
This movie from 1958 showed a contemporary border crossing. Amusing compared to now:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052311/