I need to renew mine at the end of this year as it expires in June 2026.

I went to my local rural post office where the staff is excellent because they know the systems.

Those folks are also really pleasant people who represent their Service professionally.

You can go to the USPS website and search for post offices, there are filters for both passport centers (not all offices handle passports anymore) and photo centers.

our tiny county in Iowa was able to take the pictures right in the office when we submitted our paperwork.

I had my picture taken at Staples on a flash drive so I was able to upload it through the online form. I go the new passport less than two weeks later. Probably because they are printed in Puerto Rico, which the DOGE people probably don't know is part of the United States so they didn't fuck with it.

Still needed to send my expiring passport to them, and printed out my online form and sent with it. Registered mail.

...my passport arrived 8 days later.

I plan to renew mine after I get back from Hawaii in January. My current one expires in May of 2026.

I have the Real ID now as well. GOD! The hoops I had to jump through for that!

I had been dragging my feet a little bit, needed it for late June, so I applied expedited as well with the expectation I'd just squeak by, but I got the approval email in something like six days, my old passport back in less than two weeks, and my new book in 15 days. I was legit gobsmacked.

My last passport was expiring in January 2021, right in the first Covid wave. I was in the States in the summer of 2020 and tried to get my passport renewed. No way. I was told by State that it would be 18 months. Passport agencies in Boston and DC were shut, and the ripoff super-fast agencies closed as well.

The State Department in DC recommended I go to the US consulate in Frankfurt and apply for a one year temporary emergency passport, for which there would be no waiting. So, when I got back to Germany, I called the consulate and asked what I needed to bring. I did all that, and went down there on the appointed day. When the case worker saw my application, he asked me why I didn’t apply for a normal renewal? I said I couldn’t afford to wait 18 months. He looked surprised and asked who said anything about 18 months? I said I was told that by the State Dept. in Washington. He said, well nobody told them. He said if I wanted a normal renewal, it would take three to four weeks. I said, fine, I’ll do that. In fact, I had my new passport in twelve days—issued in Washington, delivered in Düsseldorf.

Mine expires in 2029 so I am hoping to get it renewed in 2028 to be on the safe side. Give plenty of time for any backlogs.

A passport becomes seriously restricted for travel six months prior to its expiration. In many countries, a tourist visa (stamp) is valid for six months so you can’t get the visa if your passport will expire.

I think you can apply any time in the last year of its validity.

Good luck!

and had it in about a week. The only snag was getting my photo right. Kept getting a message that shading and shadows were a problem so I kept re-taking my photo, 4 or 5 times, until it worked.