State Department Warns of Passport Backlog of Up to 18 Weeks
- Applicants should ideally submit documents six months early
- Impact of Covid-19 pandemic still affecting processing: Arndt
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Americans looking to apply for or renew a passport will face a wait time of as much as 18 weeks, making summer travel unlikely unless they already have a valid document or seek an emergency appointment, a top State Department official said.
The State Department is staffing up to address a backlog of some 1.5 million passport applications, but ripple effects from the coronavirus pandemic mean it can still take several months for citizens to get their documents back, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Rachel Arndt told reporters on Wednesday.