Americans will have to wait more than FOUR MONTHS for passport renewals as the backlog widens
Americans will have to wait more than FOUR MONTHS for passport renewal as backlog widens due to ‘pent up wanderlust’
- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has set the waiting time between 10 and 13 weeks
- Those who register by mail can wait another four weeks
- Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called the demand ‘unprecedented’
Americans looking to travel post-pandemic should have their passports drawn up, as they may have to wait up to four months to get it renewed.
The U.S. State Department has faced a backlog of passports in recent months, driven by pent-up demand after years of travel restrictions and pandemic uncertainty keeping people at home.
The State Department has set the wait time between 10 and 13 weeks to process a routine application.
It’s worse for those who apply by mail, which can take another four weeks. That means if you signed up on April 1, you might not see it until mid-August or later.
Even an expedited application, which is offered for $60 more than a regular application, is likely to take seven to nine weeks.
Americans looking to travel post-pandemic should have their passports drawn up, as they may have to wait up to four months to get it renewed. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called his demand ‘unprecedented’
Secretary of State Anthony Blinken even testified before Congress on the issue in March, calling the demand for new passports “unprecedented.” WHJG reported.
His department — which has created a federal task force on the matter — has tried to hire more people, pay overtime and open satellite offices, but delays remain.
Experts even warn Americans that if they want to travel in 2024, they need to work on renewal now.
“The only way you can really tackle this is to get ahead of the problem,” said Charles Leocha, president of nonprofit Travelers United. CNBC.
While the State Department is growing, they still have some way to go before returning to where they were pre-pandemic from a staffing perspective.
Blinken said weekly passport applications are up 30 to 40 percent year over year.
He added that the department sometimes received half a million applications a week during the winter, breaking records and surpassing the State Department’s own projections.
The problem gets worse as applicants have to send in their expiring passports. Of course, even if they have not expired, they cannot use them.
While the State Department is growing, they still have some way to go before returning to where they were from a pre-pandemic personnel perspective to meet passport requests
The State Department has set the wait time between 10 and 13 weeks to process a routine application
The problem gets worse as applicants have to send in their expiring passports. Of course, even if they have not expired, they cannot use them
It is more difficult if you are traveling to different countries in Europe that require a US passport that is valid for at least 90 days after the end of your trip. In some Asian and Middle Eastern countries it is even six months.
“Even if you don’t have a trip on the books yet, but your passport expires sometime in the first half of 2024, I would absolutely renew it now,” says Sally French, a travel expert at NerdWallet.
Experts like French and Leocha beg Americans to be prepared in advance.
Leocha said Americans concerned about waiting times should “go directly to a passport office here in the US and see if they can do it sooner.”
That said, you may still have to wait.
“The problem is that it won’t help you today,” Leocha added. “You have to plan ahead.”