If your planning on traveling out of the country this summer, you may want to start applying for your passport now.
AAA spokesman Brian Ortner told KLIN News there is a longer than usual delay in passport application return, due to a significant influx in requests for the state department. What was normally a 8-11 week process, is not taking up to 3 months or more. Even expedited services are seeing a lag…what used to be 1-3 weeks, is now closer to 5-7 weeks.
“The ultimate cause at this point is just the surge in number of applications that are being made,” said Ortner, “[Travel] numbers are back to pre-pandemic levels…people want to get out, they want to see their family and friends.”
Ortner offered advice for those looking at this process of requesting a new or updated passport for this summer.
Primarily, because of the 3+ month delay, if your summer plans include travel out of the country: Start your application process today. “The sooner you get the application completed, the sooner it gets in, the sooner you’re in the queue to get processed.” Ortner added, “If you have a trusted partner, a travel agent of some sort that you can work with…a lot of those folks can also help make sure that your application is completed correctly.
For those that have their passport in hand, Ortner urged, “Check your passport’s expiration date. Some countries have a requirement where they’d like your passport to be extended past six months after you leave the country. So if your expiration date’s coming up, it might be good to look at renewing your passport as well during this time.”
“Probably the biggest thing to do is to be prepared before you go…so you can truly enjoy your time away and aren’t stress about the things that you could have controlled ahead of time.”
More information on the passport application process can be found here: travel.state.gov