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A passport is your ticket to travel abroad, and a record number of Americans are planning to travel internationally this year.
But that record demand for passport renewals has caused a historic setback in the process at State Department consular offices across the country.
Some travelers have to book second separate trips just to try to renew their passports in time.
Meredith Adler of Chicago plans a sunny vacation with friends in Mexico this month.
All she needed was for her passport to be renewed.
“I called him in general [the State Department] 70 to 80 times,” Adler explained.
Adler said she applied in January and paid for expedited processing to get her renewed passport in time. But two weeks before liftoff, Adler still didn’t have it, and his anxiety began to settle.
She says she quickly realized that an in-person rehab appointment was her best option. However, there were no available appointments in Chicago. Adler said a State Department employee told her getting an appointment in Chicago was “like winning the lottery.”
“They gave me an appointment in New Orleans, Dallas or Denver,” Adler explained, meaning she had to make a domestic trip first to renew her passport before heading on to international travel.
The problem stemming from this historical background was made clear by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at a House subcommittee hearing last month.
Blinken said the State Department is experiencing “unprecedented demand”, receiving an average of 500,000 passport applications per week, 30 to 40% more this year than last year.
For a regular passport, Americans are waiting 10 to 13 weeks, Blinken said, and for an expedited passport, the wait is between seven and nine weeks.
As international travel has shifted during the pandemic, the State Department has reassigned or furloughed passport workers. Now he is increasing the staff to meet the demand.
“This is a demand we’ve never seen before in the passport service,” said John Hoban, customer service manager for the U.S. State Department’s Chicago Passport Agency. We are expanding our capacity to meet this demand.
If you’re planning to travel outside the United States soon or this year, travel experts recommend checking your passport’s expiration date immediately.
If you want to renew your passport, start the process in advance. Some experts are suggesting that travelers wait to book any flights or hotels until they have their renewed passports in hand.
“The early bird finds the worm,” says travel expert Scott Keyes. “If you think there’s an opportunity to travel internationally in the next five, six or seven years, it would be in your best interest to apply for that passport now.”
If travelers pay for expedited processing, but the State Department doesn’t process it in time, additional fees may be refunded, the spokeswoman confirmed.
Click here to learn more about refund requirements and how to apply.
With no appointment in Chicago, Adler drove to Detroit, MI. for an appointment to renew her passport, which turned out to be successful.
Although the journey was not easy, she arrived in Mexico City with her friends.
“It was definitely like a shock,” Adler said of the situation. “Renew as soon as possible. Mine expires in October and I wish I could do it right away.”
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