Ready to travel outside the US? Passport renewal backlog could delay you for months
As more people are vaccinated and COVID-19 restrictions are relaxed, many Americans are ready to travel again. Those needing to obtain or renew their passports should expect lengthy delays, however.
Would-be travelers say they’re waiting nearly double the usual processing time after mailing in their applications.
“Months. We’re talking months of delays,” Massachusetts resident Rita Bean told WCVB. “We sent our renewals Dec. 3.”
The State Department had previously halted all passport processing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Passport services and renewals have since resumed, however, a backlog of applications has proven frustrating for those with wanderlust.
Routine renewals can now take up to 12 weeks to process, according to the department’s website.
Bean said hers took a bit longer.
After putting her and her husband’s passports in the mail, Bean said their package stalled in Philadelphia, where the National Passport Processing Center is headquartered, for several days. Seven weeks passed before her renewal package began moving again, and finally landed in a Philadelphia P.O. Box on Feb. 4
“Twenty-one days before they opened it,” Bean said, according to WCVB. “And then it took weeks for them to process it.”
Kiera Davis described a similar ordeal after sending in her passport renewal application last April, according to USA Today. The part-time travel agent said she was “knee deep in the [State Department’s] website” every week as she tracked the status of her request.
Her new passport finally arrived some 15 weeks later, according to the outlet.
Those seeking passports for the first time can apply with few restrictions these days, according to the State Department’s website. However, processing times are still lagging and could take between 10 and 12 weeks.
Officials said processing times apply to both mail-in and in-person applications. At minimum, it takes a month after the application is submitted before it shows up as “In Process” online.
“During these 4 weeks, your application is delivered to a mail facility, your payment is processed, and your application is scanned and sent to us,” according to the State Department’s website.
To cut down on the turnaround time, applicants can expedite their service for a $60 fee.
This story was originally published April 6, 2021 at 3:39 PM with the headline "Ready to travel outside the US? Passport renewal backlog could delay you for months."