A brand-new travel disaster: Thirteen-week delay for new passport

The State Department claims that it receives approximately 500,000 passport applications each week, which is at least 30% more than the previous year.

Pack your patience if you are traveling soon and require a passport. Every week, the State Department receives 500,000 applications.

The official processing time is now 13 weeks, which is one reason why the wait is getting longer.

According to Jay Zahorsky, a professor of economics at the Questran School of Business at Boston University, demand is also expanding in Minnesota.

“Back in 2021, 220,000 individuals applied for identifications. Last year, in 2022, 310,000 people applied, and what is my projection for this year? “There will be applications from four hundred thousand people in Minnesota,” stated Zahorsky.

That delay is also caused by a lack of government employees because so many temporary workers were fired during travel restrictions.

According to Zahorsky, “The passport agency has been trying to hire those people back, but it’s hard to find workers because unemployment is so low across the country.” Be prepared for a possible disappointment and allow yourself some additional time.”

Zahorsky missed a May trip to London because he waited four months for his passport. He said that one way to solve the problem is to let people back into the country even though their passports are expired.

“In the event that I have a terminated visa and I haven’t changed my name or my location, they ought to permit me back in,” said Zahorsky.

He also suggests that you can continue to use your passport while you wait for it to be renewed—two policies that officials have previously tried.

He also suggests going to Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands because you don’t need a passport. In any case, pack your understanding since Minnesota positions thirteenth in the country with regards to the quantity of identification applications, to some degree, because of its nearness to Canada.