HOUSTON — Planning to travel abroad for your summer vacation? Then you need to start now when it comes to applying for a passport.
How long does it take to get a passport?
The time it takes to get a passport has gotten a lot longer. The U.S. State Department is warning travelers that it will take 10 to 13 weeks for routine passport processing and seven to nine weeks for the more expensive expedited processing.
According to NPR, those estimates don’t factor in shipping, which can be another two weeks.
Demand for passports
The State Department blames unprecedented demand for the backlog, saying it is getting half a million applications a week. However, it also cut back on staff during the pandemic when demand for passports was pretty much non-existent.
Now, it is racing to hire more staff to wade through the backlog. It also has authorized more overtime and opened satellite offices to process passports more quickly.
Usually, travel is cyclical with demand increasing in March and lasting through late summer, but the Secretary of State says that has changed with demand remaining consistently high.
The U.S. Travel Association says 52% of Americans plan to travel in the next six months. If you are one of those travelers and you are heading abroad, you will want to check your passport sooner than later.