WATCH: US passport delays and staffing shortages snarl summer plans
Amy DeLaura
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It might be wishful thinking if you are seeking a valid U.S. passport for your next trip. You’ll need to buckle up for a very different journey before you step anywhere near an airport. A backlog of U.S. passport applications has disrupted summer travel plans for many.
The State Department is facing staff shortages, and the passport agency is flooded with a record-busting 500,000 applications per week. The wait time for a regular passport is now 13 weeks. Normally, the passport application process takes seven to nine weeks. Congress warned Secretary of State Antony Blinken about concerns about impending delays months ago.
If you need to get a passport for an upcoming flight in less than four months, the agency may send you across the country for your appointment. When trying to book an appointment, one traveler from Washington, D.C., was only given the option of appointments in Los Angeles, California, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, to renew her passport.
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Even with an appointment, expect long lines and no guarantee your passport will come in time. Many locations will not do same-day passports. If you have an appointment in another city, agents will ask you to stay for, at times, three days to receive the passport from that location, and choosing to mail the passport across the country could delay receiving your travel documents even longer.