Americans traveling abroad may have to wait more than four months for a new passport, and delays may worsen as summer travel season approaches.
Therefore, international travelers planning a trip later this year or in 2024 should act quickly, according to travel professionals. Charles Leocha, chairman of the non-profit advocacy group Travelers United, stated, “The only way to effectively deal with this is to get ahead of the problem.”
Passport delays are due to ‘unprecedented’ demand
In recent months, the passport backlog has increased as more Americans are able to travel abroad after being unable to do so during the pandemic. The U.S. Department of State must also re-staff positions that were reassigned or eliminated as the demand for passports plummeted in 2020.
In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress that the demand for passports has been “unprecedented.”
Approximately 30 to 40 percent more weekly applications have been submitted this year than last, he reported. Although demand is typically seasonal, with the busy season lasting from March to late summer, “basically it’s full time now,” Blinken said.
During a few weeks during the winter, the department received 500,000 applications, a record for that time of year and an amount that exceeded the State Department’s official forecasts.
How long it takes to get a US passport
As of March 24, the State Department reported that routine passport applications took between 10 and 13 weeks to process. (The renewal fee for a traditional passport book is $130, plus an acceptance fee of $35 for first-time applicants.) Even an expedited application, which costs an additional $60 in addition to delivery fees, takes between seven and nine weeks.
For those who apply by mail, the waiting period will be extended. According to the State Department, it may take up to four weeks for an office to receive and return a new passport, bringing the total processing time for a standard application to more than four months.
As the busier travel season approaches, processing times are expected to increase further, the department said.
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