{"id":2204,"date":"2023-12-19T15:25:02","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T16:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/?p=2204"},"modified":"2023-12-19T21:42:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T21:42:57","slug":"how-long-does-it-take-to-get-a-u-s-passport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/shinsori.me\/index.php\/2023\/12\/19\/how-long-does-it-take-to-get-a-u-s-passport\/","title":{"rendered":"How long does it take to get a U.S. passport?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"The<\/p>\n

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The cover of a U.S. passport is displayed in Tigard, Ore., on Dec. 11, 2021. Passport processing times are now back to the pre-pandemic rate.<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/span><\/p>\n

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Jenny Kane, Associated Press<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

The headache \u2014 and sometimes heartache \u2014 of waiting more than three months to get a passport seems to be over. This week, the U.S. State Department said it now takes about six to eight weeks to process a routine passport application. And the most costly expedited service is expected to take about two to three weeks for the near future. <\/p>\n

The department still recommends that people apply early if they have travel plans and need a new passport or have to renew theirs.<\/p>\n

In its latest time estimate<\/a>, the Bureau of Consular Affairs notes that \u201cwith this update, we have fulfilled our commitment to return to benchmarks from March 2020.\u201d In other words, pre-pandemic speeds.<\/p>\n

It has been a rough journey \u2014 or perhaps lack of journey if you\u2019re talking to people who missed trips because of the lengthy delays in the interim. At its peak, people were waiting months to receive their passports and some likely missed trips they\u2019d planned or hoped to take.<\/p>\n

Between March and October 2023, times were running 10 to 13 weeks for routine passport processing and seven to nine weeks for expedited service. That was better than June 2021, when routine processing time was reportedly 18 weeks, according to an October 2023 article on The Points Guy<\/a> <\/p>\n

The delays have in part been simply high demand. The department update says that between October 2022 and September 2023 (the fiscal year for the federal government), more than 24 million passport books and cards were issued, which was a record number. There are 160 million valid U.S. passports in circulation and nearly half of Americans have one.<\/p>\n

But as the Deseret News earlier reported<\/a>, during COVID-19, travel pretty much dried up and staff was reassigned or let go. Ramping back up has been rocky.<\/p>\n

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