Getting Your Passport Could Now Take 2 More Weeks
If traveling abroad is in your future, then you need to check your passport and make sure you have a valid one. Getting a new passport could now take a couple of weeks longer.
The State Department’s Passport Services agency has increased the processing time for routine service to six to eight weeks. Until May 31, the wait time between application and delivery was four to six weeks. That’s a 50 percent increase for the minimum wait and it could take two weeks longer to get your passport in hand.
For those who can’t wait, expedited service is still an option. But that costs extra. You will need to pay $60 and processing time remains two to three weeks door-to-door.
In each of the past two years, more than 21 million passports and passport cards were delivered. Those are “all-time record numbers,” according to the State Department. About 18.6 million applications are expected this fiscal year, writes Washington Post.
In fiscal 2018, 137.5 million citizens had valid passports. That’s a growth of almost 100 percent over the past decade, meaning that Americans are now traveling more abroad.
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Oh only info for locals. Not relevant outside US.