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Yes, you can! Travelers have many questions about the current U.S. government shutdown. One of the most asked questions? What if I need to apply for or renew a passport? It’s an understandable question given the uncertainty around which services are impacted.
Passport Operations are Not Impacted by the U.S. Government Shutdown
The bottom line, passport operations are fee funded and not subject to the annual Congressional appropriations process in the same way that some other federal operations are. Passport applications will continue to be processed throughout the government shutdown. In fact, there’s a banner at the top of the Passport application website stating such.
According to the Department of State,
“During the lapse in government funding, consular operations domestically and abroad will remain operational. This includes:
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- Passports
- Visas
- Assisting American citizens abroad”
That’s good news for anyone looking to travel abroad in the near future. Not only can you apply for or renew your passport, you can even get your passport replaced abroad if it’s lost or stolen. Had a personal friend experience that while traveling abroad during a previous government shutdown!
The Bottom Line
It can be a confusing time in travel with news of delays and snags across the system. The good news is that if you have a need for passport services, the process should be working normally. Have you ever tried to process a passport application during a U.S. government shutdown? How did it go for you?
-MJ
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and and may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened. This relationship may impact how and where links appear on this site. This site does not include all financial companies or all available financial offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Filled out the application for renewal…submitted the check…enclosed the passport (that’s actually the scary part…my passport doesn’t expire until 8/26 but…?). However, they did cash the check, so I know it got there (yeah, I don’t trust the PO tracking). So, I am as cautiously optimistic as anyone can be given that a 6x bankruptcy sheister is running the government and is now hell bent on firing good people to make some absurd point???
Two weeks from on line renewal to arrival in our mailbox.
Yes, I just submitted mine online. Phew. At least something works.