U.S. Passport Wait Times Are Now 12 to 18 Weeks
As travel continues to turn back on, with it is coming some growing pains. One of the biggest has been an increase in the time it takes to get a passport, waiting times are stretching into 18 weeks now.
The State Department is adding staff to help with the delays. Over 150 staff will return to work at 21 agencies across the country, which could help increase capacity. However, there is going to be a ramping-up period, so applicants are still asked to remain patient. For the time being the current wait from when a customer mails their application to when they receive their passport will remain 12-18 weeks.
The options to cut that time are limited—applicants can pay for the Expedited service, which costs an additional $60, but that only means that the timeframe goes from 12 to 18 weeks to 12 weeks, which includes up to 6 weeks for processing and up to 6 weeks for mailing times.
