Make sure your passport is current/issued before you buy that ticket!
As more Americans start to plan an international getaway, an unexpected obstacle has arisen—renewing or getting a passport isn’t that easy nowadays. If you plan to travel abroad and you don’t have a valid passport, don’t expect to catch a flight anytime soon.
International travel was shut down for more than a year. During this time, hundreds of thousands of Americans let their passports expire. At the same time, the State Department significantly reduced passport operations to protect its staff from contracting Covid-19. As a result, there’s now a backlog of between 1.5 million and 2 million passport applications, with processing times longer than they’ve ever been. (It’s so bad, the State Department now allows Americans overseas to return home on an expired passport.)
According to the State Department, routine passport service by mail can now take up to 18 weeks, compared to six to eight weeks before the pandemic. Expedited service—which costs an additional $60 and took anywhere from a few days to three weeks before Covid-19—can now take up to 12 weeks.
Americans who require passports more quickly than the current processing times allow must show proof of imminent travel (departure within 72 hours) to obtain an in-person appointment that will get their application processed in time. Appointments can be made online at passportappointment.travel.state.gov. A same-day expedited passport costs $170, with an additional $35 assessed for first-time applicants.
Unfortunately, finding such an appointment is difficult. People are driving or flying significant distances—even across the country—for one of the coveted spots. A black market in passport appointments has sprung up, with prices posted on Facebook and Reddit as high as $1,000.
The State Department is ramping up staffing to help speed up the application process, but it will take time before the wait times drop to pre-pandemic levels. Per a department spokesperson, people who submit new passport applications right now will not receive their new passport until well into the fall.
Twist’s Take: Need to renew your passport? Figure months, not weeks.
