Passport Renewal If Out and About

[TravelinLight]

I did a search and could not find anything regarding passport renewals, so apologize if this was covered a while ago. Not out and about, but as I just sent off my wife's passport for renewal this sparked a thought. What do those who are out and away from the states do when it comes time to renew your US Passport? Right now they are taking several months and there is no expediting option. Even during normal times 6 to 8 weeks processing time.

You need to send your current passport in for processing, so you do not have your passport if you are out of the country. You also need to receive your new passport and mail forwarding would add time.

Do you come back to the states for an extended time?
Do US Embassy's help process passport renewals while abroad?
Do you send in the paperwork and then hole up in a country for a while until your new passport is returned?
Something else?

This is a theoretical question so I am not in dire need, just curious.

[JPA Cate]

In years gone by, we have done it from within the US, or through a US consulate. However, my current understanding is that they all are closed in terms of doing passport renewal, at the present time. When and how the service will become accessible again as time goes on is not known to me. Presumably passport services will normalize at some point.

Ann

Ann