The U.S. State Department is encouraging Americans planning to travel abroad this summer to apply for passport renewal now due to increased processing times for the document.
Currently, passports are taking eight to 11 weeks for regular services and five to seven weeks for expedited services, which cost an additional $60. The State Department has warned that these estimates only include the processing time for the document and do not account for mailing time, which could make the wait even longer.
Processing times can vary throughout the year and increase depending on demand, which typically happens during the busy spring and summer seasons.
Travelers wishing to apply for a passport or its renewal must do so by mail. The online renewal option, which started as a pilot program last year, was temporarily suspended on February 7, according to the State Department. When it reopens, this program will be available for travelers who are at least 25 years old, have a valid recent passport issued for 10 years, and an old passport issued between nine and 15 years ago. Currently, travelers renewing online cannot change their name, gender, date of birth, or place of birth.
Although processing times are longer than normal, they are nowhere near the delays that the State Department saw in 2021, when passport applications took up to 18 weeks to process.
Source: The Wall Street Journal