![]() passport, prepare for an unplanned excursion. So, 2023 traveler, if you still need a valid U.S. For everyone else, the options are few and expensive. ![]() Stories from applicants and interviews by The Associated Press depict a system of crisis management, in which the agencies are prioritizing urgent cases such as applicants traveling for reasons of "life or death" and those whose travel is only a few days off. ![]() The deluge is on-track to top last year's 22 million passports issued, the State Department says. That's left the passport agency flooded with a record-busting 500,000 applications a week. They're blaming the epic wait times on lingering pandemic -related staffing shortages and a pause of online processing this year. officials aren't even denying the problem or predicting when it will ease. Some applicants are buying additional plane tickets to snag in-process passports where they sit - in other cities - in time to make the flights they booked in the first place. With family dreams and big money on the line, passport seekers describe waiting, worrying, holding the line, refreshing the screen, complaining to Congress, paying extra fees and following incorrect directions. and around the world, is a maddening pre-travel purgatory defined, at best, by costly uncertainty. The result, say aspiring travelers in the U.S. passport for that 2023 trip? Buckle up, wishful traveler, for a very different journey before you step anywhere near an airport.Ī much-feared backup of U.S passport applications has smashed into a wall of government bureaucracy as worldwide travel rebounds toward record pre-pandemic levels - with too few humans to handle the load.
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