At this writing Passport Services is facing perhaps the most challenging period in its long history. Currently nearly 1.5 million applications are pending at Passport Agencies (165,000+ here in New Orleans), with several hundred thousand more in process at the lockbox. This tremendous influx of work has overwhelmed our ability to meet the normal National Service Commitment of six weeks for routines and 2 weeks for expedites. As of March 1, those timeframes have been temporarily expanded to 10 weeks for routines and 3 - 4 weeks for expedites. This information has been updated at www.travel.state.gov, and all acceptance facilities will also be receiving a separate bulletin to that effect. Our inability to issue passports as quickly as originally expected for those customers whose applications are already in the pipeline has created some serious and painful problems for some of them. Some of our customers who did everything they were supposed to do, and who applied well within our normal processing guidelines, have missed their trips. Other frantic customers have received their passports just hours before they were scheduled to head to the airport. Many others are nervous and anxious as their travel dates approach and they cannot even ascertain the status of their applications. |
The National Passport Information Center (NPIC) has at times been overwhelmed by the huge volume of calls it receives from customers, sometimes over 125,000 in a single day. Not surprisingly, many of these angry/anxious/stressed customers then return to your acceptance facilities, desperate for information and assistance. Although we have long advocated that acceptance agents refrain from involving yourselves in the status of applications after they have left your facility, many of you have abandoned that guidance and are calling New Orleans on behalf of these customers. Although we would prefer that you remain steadfast and urge your customers to remain calm and determined in their efforts to reach NPIC, we can appreciate the stress your feel out there on the front lines face-to-face with unhappy people. Nonetheless, your many calls lately have toppled our ability here in New Orleans to respond to you quickly, and at this writing if an acceptance agent requests a call back, it may take us a minimum of 48 hours to respond. These are tough times, and unfortunately we have no easy answers for you with regard to the current situation. We'll try to offer some guidance that may be of assistance: ● As processing times expand, it becomes more important than ever to ensure that the applications you accept are error-free. If we must suspend an application because of insufficient documentation, incorrect fees, bad photos, etc., it will likely be significantly longer than ten weeks before the customer finally receives the passport.
● It is of paramount importance that you send your expedites and routine applications to the lockbox in separate envelopes, with the expedites clearly marked as such on the outside of the envelope.
| PASSPORT FEES |
| U.S. Passport
Book for First Time Applicants & Minors |
|
Adults ($110
and $25 on separate checks) Total - $135* |
|
(age 16 and over) |
| Minors - $105* |
| (under 16) |
|
