What to know about renewing your passport.

<div class="block">Renewing passports is task many of us would rather forget about but we have some tips to make the process go a bit smoother for you. David Alwadish, founder of ItsEasy Passport &amp; Visa, joined &#39;Stretching Your Dollar&#39; to talk about the ease of renewing passports, frequent issues people run into and expected wait times, which can take up to six months. </div>

Stretching Your Dollar

Stretching Your Dollar: What to Know About Passport Renewal

If you're gearing up for holiday, travel or planning your next vacation abroad, it is time to check that expiration date on your passport, passport renewal can be stressful. So here to help us avoid the pitfalls is David Al Wads, CEO and founder of it's easy dot com. David, thanks for joining. I'm humbled to be here. This is great. How do we make it easy renewing our passport? You know, something don't yell at me but II I find I launched the greatest app. It's easy uh passport. But the reason why it's great is because it not, it reminds people to renew. It's a free app and people can download it, put their name and expiration date of any member of their family and one year in advance, we're gonna start reminding people it takes into account the six month pitfall that so many people fall into, in that even they think their passport is still valid for six months. What happens is they get to the airport and they get turned away and it's very embarrassing when you're with a family and you have to be turned away. Certainly, that's the worst case scenario. So, so it sounds like you think planning a year in advance is the safest way to go. I think so because that way, let's assume it was in January that I reminded you. So now you say to yourself, well, honey, we're going away in March. So go because you still got the six months, but maybe you're going away in November. So let's renew now. So that's where you have a now new 10 year refresher on your passport down the road. So I think one year is a good time to not be procrastinating, but to renew and also do it affordably. Ok. Uh Good. So let's walk through maybe some of the price points that would make it more affordable the earlier that you can plan. Well, certainly, I, I like the gov, the public saving 60 bucks. The government charges an extra $60 if you want it a little bit faster than their normal, let's say eight week uh program. Uh So if you do say if to save the 60 bucks, otherwise, um if you pay $60 more, then you'll get it a little bit faster, maybe two or three weeks faster. So I like saving that. I, I like saving that. Obviously, a lot of components go into the passport renewal process. Your photo is one of them. There are some common mistakes that people might make with that photo that could cause them to get delayed. It's funny because it's funny you bring that up because the number one reject, even with all the stores that you're able to buy photos at, that's where people get them is photos. And so the photos, eyeglasses uh uh washed out color of uh hairs in the eye, uh not looking at the eye squinting uh AAA multitude of problems. The image is too small. It's a multitude. So definitely take off your glasses for the photo. Is that right? Absolutely. It's, it's, it's actually a law now that there's no glasses allowed in photographs. It was, it's, it's tainting their biometrics. OK. Good. Other than the photo, what's another common pitfall when it comes to getting your passport renewal denied? Uh uh They do not submit the proper documentation. Uh The uh maybe they're getting married. Uh Maybe the signature is not uh uh in concert with what they've done. Uh Maybe they crossed out the date uh which is a problem. So there's a lot of, there's a lot of errors that happens. Um Another thing is that when they hand fill an application that sometimes delays a passport because you have to picture that all these agents are now sitting there and typing millions of passports as opposed to having the application barcoded and pre prepared, which is what we do um for everybody uh ahead of time. So I'm sure that could probably expedite the process too, right? If you opt for the digital version versus the written version, it does because now the agent of the Department of State scans it boom, done. Ok. Next and then it gets the password gets issued. Is there a checklist beyond just the photo of what you need in order to renew your passport? So right now simply uh if you're you're not in a rush, then it would be your ex your expiring passport that did not expire for more than 10 years and it has to be an adult's 10 year passport, the application signed, uh and dated, uh and a perfect passport photo. I call it one of my PPP programs. So, uh, and I have three and that's one of them and, and then a check, a check for the proper amount come to think of. It is also a, uh, a very important thing. Uh, they don't always write the right amount of check. They don't address it properly. The government prefers us department of State with the word department spelled out. Um, and uh, the fees, uh, has to be exact. So how challenging has it been to renew a passport since COVID? I've heard lots of stories that it has been a major headache, you know, and I'm doing this in 40 years. So it is a big business. I do it for major corporations, but I've saved them millions, believe it or not. You wouldn't believe it um, in passport management program. But the truth of the matter is this year was a perfect storm. This year. I've never seen it where the volume of passports and the backlog and for whatever reason was endless. And so that was the problem and people weren't getting passports back in time. So the key is to prepare ahead of time. Don't procrastinate. It's not worth it. How do people take advantage of your services if they want to renew their passport, passport with ease? I promise you with all my heart that if they download the app, it's easy passport renew and photo, they're gonna get the least expensive easiest like insurance way of renewing that passport and they never have to leave the home. Passport photos are included, shipping is included, that barcoded form is included and um we, I watch every move that they make. So if there's a problem, I will call them and let them know. All right, David. Thanks so much for the tips. I hope this was great. Especially heading into the holidays. That's David Al Wads founder and CEO of it's easy dot com.