Slosheroni

US citizen with just under four years remaining on my passport. If I had two years or less I think it would be a no brainer to renew it now before leaving the States. But with four years I'm wondering if that's not unreasonable. Part of the issue is, will it even be possible if the federal government is gutted?

How does one even time this to take full advantage of the six month validity? The Thai consulate in L.A. says it takes a minimum of 15 business days to process. If you book a flight for say, November 15th, would you apply on October 25th (fifteen business days)? That'd be a little nip and tuck. Giving yourself more wiggle room and applying October 2nd should work but then if it is approved in 15 days you end up losing two weeks of time.