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New airline complaint program aims to help travelers
A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Transportation and a bipartisan coalition of state attorneys general aims to streamline efforts to resolve airline consumer complaints. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the program at Denver International Airport. The program comes in response to the record numbers of airline customer complaints their offices are fielding.
Online passport renewal is back in the U.S. with limited capacity.
The U.S. State Department has relaunched a beta program for renewing your passport online, with plans to gradually increase capacity each day, reports say.
According to the State Department, a limited number of eligible Americans will be allowed to submit applications online at a "midday eastern time window" each day. The application pool will close once the unspecified daily limit is reached.
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The State Department tried a similar online renewal program in 2022, but ended it after a backlog caused wait times to balloon to up to 13 weeks, Forbes reported.
Person holding a United States passport with Department of State logo visible, Lafayette, California, May 23, 2023. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
The online passport renewal program takes the same amount of time as doing it by mail, and the passport you’re renewing will be canceled after you submit your application for a new one. You’ll be able to pay for the renewal online using a debit or credit card.
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Requirements for renewing passport online
To renew your passport online, you have to meet the following criteria, according to the State Department:
- You must be 25 years old or older.
- The passport you’re renewing is or was valid for 10 years, and it must be a regular passport. You can’t renew diplomatic, official or service passports online.
- The passport had to be issued between 2009 and 2015, or more than nine years but less than 15 years from the date you submit your renewal application.
- You can’t change your name, gender, date of birth or place of birth.
- You aren’t traveling abroad for at least eight weeks from the date you submit your renewal application.
- You have to live in the United States or one of its territories. You can’t have an Army Post Office or Fleet Post Office address.
- You must have your current passport, and it can’t be damaged or previously reported as lost or stolen.
- You must be able to upload a digital passport photo.