The U.S. State Department said it has already reached its first goal in a series of tests to determine the efficacy of renewing your passport online.
"We have reached our goal of accepting 25,000 applications during this first phase of the pilot program," the State Dept. posted on its website. "Thank you for volunteering and testing our system. We are temporarily closing down the online renewal service to new customers and will reopen it again in September. We will post updates on this page in the coming weeks about our plans for September."
The beta test was done on a first-come, first-serve basis as reported by our sister site Travel Weekly. It's not information-gathering as to whether an online system would be popular; it's likely that most people will find the idea of passport renewal via their laptop or phone to be much easier. Rather, it's likely a question of whether the State Dept. will be able to handle the influx of renewals.
About 145 million Americans have valid U.S. passports, with a general consensus that 10 percent need to be renewed each year at the end of their 10-year expirations for adults.
The State Dept. said that the online passport renewal portal is expected to be available to all U.S. citizens by the end of the year.
"If eligible, you will no longer have to mail your renewal application and supporting documents to us," the State Department said.
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