People seeking to apply for a passport or to renew a passport can now expect to receive those passports sooner.
The U.S. Department of State announced that the wait times for passports have decreased by two weeks as the department renews its efforts to serve Americans seeking to travel.
The nation has been dealing with a backlog of passport-related requests for months. This backlog was so severe that Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) and Keith Self (R-TX), along with roughly 200 other congressional members, sent a letter to the Bureau of Consular Affairs in May of this year, demanding that delays be addressed expediently, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
On Monday, months after the request from lawmakers, the department announced an update to its processing times.
“As of October 2, we are processing routine applications in 8-11 weeks, and expedited applications in 5-7 weeks,” it said in a press release. “Processing times begin when we receive your application at a passport agency or center and do not include mailing times.”
“It may take up to 2 weeks for us to receive your application after you mail it to us, and up to 2 weeks for you to receive your completed passport after we mail it to you.”
The State Department issued over 24 million passport books and cards between October 2022 and September of this year, the most in U.S. history. This is due in part to the revitalization of American travel overseas.
As such, the department outlined a number of ways it intends to increase its efforts to meet growing demand.
“We are aggressively recruiting and hiring across our passport agencies and centers. Our passport team members nationwide contribute tens of thousands of hours of overtime a month to issue the millions of passports sought by traveling Americans,” it said. “We have opened a satellite office to help process the large number of applications we are receiving.”
Travelers are advised to ensure their passports have not expired before venturing abroad.
