The US Passport Wait Wreaks Havoc on Travel Plans During the Summer

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Are you planning a trip in 2023 and need a valid US passport? Brace yourself for an entirely different journey before you even set foot in an airport. A backlog of US passport applications has collided with governmental bureaucracy, causing frustration for hopeful travelers worldwide. As global travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, there simply aren’t enough staff members to handle the overwhelming demand. The consequence? A maddening pre-travel ordeal marked by costly uncertainty.

Passport applicants recount the excruciating experience of waiting, worrying, navigating convoluted processes, refreshing web pages, reaching out to Congress, paying extra fees, and even purchasing additional plane tickets to access passports that are in-progress but located elsewhere. This chaos jeopardizes family plans and substantial financial investments, leaving applicants exasperated and desperate.

US officials openly acknowledge the problem but cannot offer a timeline for resolution. They attribute the epic wait times to ongoing staffing shortages resulting from the pandemic and the suspension of online processing this year. As a result, the passport agency is inundated with an unprecedented 500,000 applications weekly. The State Department predicts that this surge will surpass the 22 million passports issued last year.

Testimonies from applicants and interviews conducted by The Big Big News reveal a crisis management approach where priority is given to urgent cases, such as those involving “life or death” situations or imminent travel. For everyone else, options are limited and expensive.

Therefore, if you still require a valid US passport in 2023, be prepared for an unexpected excursion into a nightmarish zone.

PLENTY OF TIME TO WE’LL STILL BE OKAY TO BIG PROBLEMS

In early March, Ginger Collier, a florist from the Dallas area, applied for four passports in anticipation of a family vacation at the end of June. The clerk estimated a wait time of eight to 11 weeks, providing a sense of reassurance. However, the State Department subsequently extended the wait time for regular passports to as much as 13 weeks. Collier remained hopeful, believing they would still have enough time.

As the departure date drew nearer with only two weeks remaining, Collier found herself unable to sleep. Months of phone calls, holding, website refreshing, and contacting her congressional representative had led to mounting stress. Failure to obtain their passports meant losing $4,000 and missing the opportunity to meet one of her sons in Italy after his study-abroad semester.

“My nerves are shot because I may not be able to get to him,” she expressed. Collier called the toll-free number daily, enduring up to 90 minutes on hold, only to be told that she might be able to secure a necessary appointment at passport offices located in other states.

“I can’t afford to buy four more plane tickets anywhere in the United States just to get a passport when I applied with plenty of time,” she lamented. “Why don’t they just process my passports?”

THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT BLAMES COVID

In March, concerned travelers began seeking answers and assistance, including reaching out to their representatives in the House and Senate. Passport delays emerged as a more prominent concern than any other issue, prompting inquiries at congressional hearings throughout the year.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered an explanation. He stated that “with COVID, the bottom basically dropped out of the system,” as travel demand virtually vanished during the pandemic. Consequently, contractors were let go, and staff members were reassigned from passport processing duties.

Around the same time, the government temporarily suspended the online passport renewal system to improve its functionality. Blinken emphasized that the department is expediting the hiring of new agents, opening additional appointments, and seeking alternative measures to address the crisis.

Passport applicants took to social media groups, toll-free helplines, and lawmakers’ offices, seeking answers, advice, and assistance. Facebook and WhatsApp groups were filled with accounts of bewilderment and anger. Reddit hosted extensive narratives, some over 1,000 words long, detailing application dates, submitted deposits, communication attempts, time spent on hold, money expended, and pleas for guidance.

Since the first law in 1952 mandated passports for all US travelers abroad, the number of valid US passports has grown approximately 10% faster than the population over the past three decades. According to Jay Zagorsky, an economist at Boston University, the ratio of US passports per American has skyrocketed from about three per 100 people in 1989 to nearly 46 per 100 people in 2022. Americans have become increasingly eager to explore the world as society becomes more prosperous.

AN UNPLEASANT SITUATION FOR AMERICANS AND OTHERS ABROAD

Obtaining US visas and passports at US consulates overseas is not a significantly more positive experience. On any given day in June, individuals in New Delhi could expect to wait 451 days for a visa interview, while those in Sao Paulo might endure a wait of over 600 days. Aspiring travelers in Mexico City faced a delay of approximately 750 days, and in Bogota, Colombia, the wait extended to 801 days.

The situation is especially dire in Israel, where over 200,000 individuals hold dual citizenship in both countries. Each person, including newborns, must secure an appointment before traveling to the United States, with both parents needing to participate in the process.

Batsheva Gutterman’s struggle to obtain three appointments after giving birth in December exemplifies the challenge. She needed the passports for a family celebration in July in Raleigh, N.C. Her quest stretched from January to June, and the solution only came when Gutterman paid a fee to join a WhatsApp group that alerted her to new appointments, which were available for mere seconds. Ultimately, she managed to secure three consecutive-day appointments, but the bureaucratic process was far from smooth.

“We had to drive the entire family, including three small children, an hour-and-a-half to Tel Aviv for three consecutive days, taking time off work and school,” she recounted. “It makes me incredibly uneasy to have a baby in Israel as an American citizen, knowing that I cannot fly with the baby until we are fortunate enough to secure an appointment.”

Recent improvements offer a glimmer of hope. On June 8, the wait time for a renewed US passport appointment was 360 days. By July 2, it had decreased to 90 days, as reported on the website.

FRUSTRATING ANECDOTES FROM THE TRENCHES

Back in the United States, Marni Larsen from Holladay, Utah, found herself waiting in line in Los Angeles on June 14, hoping to obtain her son’s passport. Her goal was to meet up with the rest of her family, who had already departed for Europe on their scheduled vacation.

Larsen had applied for her son’s passport two months earlier and had spent weeks checking for updates online or through a frustrating call system. As the mid-June vacation approached, Larsen sought assistance from Senator Mitt Romney’s office, where one of the four staff members dedicated full-time to passport issues managed to track down the document in New Orleans.

To retrieve the passport, Larsen had to purchase new tickets for herself and her son to Los Angeles and reroute their trip from there to Rome. All of this hinged on the assumption that her son’s passport had indeed been shipped as promised.

“We are just waiting in this massive line with tons of people,” Larsen expressed. “It’s been a nightmare.”

Fortunately, they succeeded in obtaining the passport. However, not everyone has been as fortunate.

Miranda Richter personally applied to renew passports for herself and her husband and to obtain a new passport for a trip to Croatia scheduled for June 6. She ended up canceling the trip, resulting in a loss of over $1,000. Richter’s experience unfolded as follows: Her husband’s and daughter’s passports arrived in 11 weeks, but her photo was rejected. She submitted a new photo via priority mail on May 4 and paid a rush fee of $79, which was never charged to her credit card. Between May 30 and June 2, just four days before their planned travel, Richter and her husband spent over 12 hours on hold with the national passport helpline while also contacting their congressman, senators, and third-party courier services.

Finally, Richter personally appeared at the federal building in downtown Houston, arriving 30 minutes before the passport office opened. With at least 100 people ahead of her in line, she burst into tears when the security guard inquired about her appointment. She couldn’t secure one. “It didn’t work,” she despondently recalled.

FINALLY: A HAPPY ENDING

“I just received my passports!” exclaimed Ginger Collier in a text message.

Collier ended up going to the passport office in Dallas at 6:30 a.m. with her daughter-in-law and joined the crowd, being organized into groups and lined up against walls. Eventually, they were called to a window, where a friendly agent retrieved all four passport applications that had been sitting in the office since March 17. More than seven hours later, they left the office with instructions to pick up their passports the following day.

They succeeded, with four days to spare.

“What a ridiculous process,” Collier remarked. Nonetheless, the reunion with her son in Italy was incredibly heartwarming. She texted last week, “It was the best hug ever!”

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about passport delays

More about passport delays

• State Department Passport Services
• US Passport Application Status
• Contacting the Passport Agency
• Congressional Representatives
• Passport Application Requirements