A trial program by the US State Department will allow a limited number of travelers to renew their passport online and get a new one in six to eight weeks.

Beginning on Wednesday, June 19, a beta test of the online process will open seven days a week at 1 p.m. Eastern time. The system will accept a limited number of applications each day and then close. But the number of applications accepted each day will grow over time, as the system proves effective, the State Department promises.

The online system is not meant to expedite the processing of passports and it will not be faster than mail-in applications, except for the time saved in the mail.

To be eligible, travelers must be applying for a passport renewal, and not their first passport. Applicants must be 25 or older and have a passport issued between 2009 and 2015 that was valid for 10 years at the time of issuance; live in the United States; and pay with a valid credit card.

Users of the online option cannot update biographical information such as their name, gender, or date of birth.

For more information or to apply, go to  Renew my Passport Online (state.gov).

It’s 2:00 on Friday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend, and I’m waiting in line at the Tip O’Neil Federal Building in Boston to pick up my replacement passport for the one I lost. For the second time in two weeks.

I’ll note that I’ve had passports for 50 years before I lost my first one last month. I know it’s in my house somewhere, as I used it to fill out a form for my Lindblad Expeditions/National Geographic cruise to British Columbia and Alaska. Then, it just disappeared.

On Friday, September 16th, the US State Department began the test run of their online passport renewal program. Almost 24 hours later, the program met its monthly quota of 25,000 participants and shut down temporarily. Stated in a post on their website, “We are temporarily closing down the online renewal service to new customers and plan to reopen it again in October.”