Passports are valid for 10 years if the person was age 16 or older when it was issued. A passport is valid for only five years if the individual was younger than 15 years old when it was first issued.
Passports can be renewed by mail. To be eligible, the current passport must be undamaged, issued when the individual was at least 16 and issued with the individual's current name. The passport itself can also not be older than 15 years. If the passport was not issued with the current name, but you can provide legal documentation of a name change, you can renew by mail. If these conditions are not met, you must renew your passport in person. Renew your passport about nine months before expiration because some locations require that a passport be valid six months beyond the length of trip.
Processing times vary for a passport application. As of October 2010, applications are processed within four to six weeks. Applications can be expedited to receive a passport faster. This processing time is approximately two to three weeks.
