Travel is being booked at a break neck pace and with it is coming some growing pains. One of the biggest has been an increase in the time it takes to get a passport. While the travel advisor business is finally coming back up to speed, passport wait times are stretching out as far as 18 weeks now.

Many clients have to cancel/postpone trips due to the passport not coming in time.

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, which will help applications move along. 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.

This means Americans who are waiting on passports for travel this summer should make alternate plans if they haven’t been able to get an appointment for a last-minute passport. Appointments remain extremely limited.” 

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. 

My advice. Check you passport NOW and make sure it is not expired or has less than 6 months left on it before it expires. Make sure you have a Passport Book because a Passport Card wont get you out of the country. Its much easier to deal with a Passport issue when its not expired or totally lost, so check you status BEFORE you start planning your next trip.