![]() ![]() It was issued in my current name, or I can provide another document such as a marriage certificate or divorce decree that is evidence of my name change.It was issued when I was age 16 or older. ![]() It was issued within the last 15 years.I have never reported it lost or stolen.It is not damaged (other than normal wear and tear).In time, OPR (online passport renewals) will save Americans time and effort, making it more convenient to renew their passports,” the spokesperson said.Renew by mail if you respond "Yes" to all statements below about your most recent passport: We estimate this would represent two-thirds of all renewals and roughly 25 percent of all applications received. “Once fully launched, we expect five million customers to be eligible to use this platform each year to renew their passports. ![]() Now, the spokesperson says that the department expects online passport renewal system to be available to the public at the end of the year. He told Congress earlier this year that the department is “getting 500,000 applications a week for passports,” which is 30% to 40% more applicants this year than last year.īlinken also said that the department had launched a pilot online renewal platform so Americans who already have a passport can renew online, but added that it was halted to fine tune and improve it before being rolled out. Secretary of State Tony Blinken has addressed the “unprecedented demands” for passports. In fact, from January through June, we authorized 30,000-40,000 overtime hours each month.” “Our staff is working tens of thousands of hours of overtime a month. We have increased staffing levels and have hundreds of additional staff in the hiring pipeline,” the spokesperson said. “We are focused on hiring, training, and retaining staff to address the current surge in demand. ![]() The State Department – which says that it is meeting the current promised processing times in “the vast majority of cases” – has been putting additional resources towards meeting the challenge of a major increase in applications. CNN has reported on thousands of flights being cancelled across the US and they are more expensive, as are hotels and rental cars, than prior to the pandemic. The wait-time before the pandemic was two to three weeks for expedited cases and six to eight weeks for routine passport applications.įactoring in major passport processing delays is just one of many obstacles hitting the travel plans of Americans this summer. In March, the department increased the processing time for new passports to 10 to 13 weeks for routine processing and seven to nine weeks for expedited processing, which costs an additional $60. “We will update our website with the current processing times as we make progress towards this goal.” “We are working hard to get back to our pre-pandemic processing times by the end of calendar year 2023,” a State Department spokesperson said. The US State Department says it is not expecting to reduce passport processing times to pre-pandemic levels until the end of the year, news that is likely to frustrate travelers who have had their summer travel plans disrupted by having to factor in waiting months to get a new passport before going abroad. ![]()
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