I noticed that my passport was expiring next July. According to everything I've read, you want to send the renewal in about 9 months before the expiration date, so I went ahead and sent it in. Well, it took a grand total of 2 weeks to get my passport back. The process was incredibly painless, as a matter of fact. I filled out the on-line application, which you print and send in with your old passport and a new photo. It probably helped that I'm on the TSA Pre Check list, so I've already been screened and all that - no additional checks were needed (if they would have done them - I don't know). But 9 months seems a little excessive now. And the renewal is for 10 years from the date of issuance, so I basically lost almost a year from my old passport. Oh, well. It's renewed now and I don't have to worry about mine for a while. My wife and my daughter will need to renew theirs in a few years.