What does the State Department say about the Passport Delays?

The state department faces a backlog of nearly 1.5 million to 2 million passport applications, with turnaround times ranging from 12 to 18 weeks.

After the COVID outburst, everyone around the world badly wants to resume international travel. The State Department is working to clear a backlog of passport applications that is causing frustration to the travelers; the recent report says that an official from the passport services has indicated that adding more employees won’t fix the passport delays right away. Whenever possible, the department encourages Americans to renew their passports by mail through service providers or with the US Postal Service.

What does Rachel Arndt say about the backlog of State department passport applications?

Who is Rachel Arndt? 

Arndt is the assistant secretary for passport services for the State Department. 

In an interview with “The Wall Street Journal,” Rachel Arndt has said that there are presently 1.5 million to 2 million passport applications on hold. She added that the department did not expect this much passport delays.

According to Ms. Arndt, the large backlog is due to an increase in travel, which has coincided with greater Covid-19 vaccination rates among Americans, and she claimed manpower levels are being increased to handle the flow of applications.

She stated that applicants will not witness a reduction in processing times right once. The government now estimates an 18-weeks response time for a normal passport application and a 12-weeks turnaround time for an expedited application. Prior to the pandemic, ordinary applications took six to eight weeks, and accelerated applications took two to three weeks.

Will this condition of state department passport application continue to prolong?

The delays highlighted in “The Wall Street Journal” have surprised enthusiastic travelers, forcing many to cancel or modify plans and put pressure on the State Department from dissatisfied applicants and members of Congress.

People who apply for new passports now will not receive them “until far into the fall,” according to Ms. Arndt, who encouraged Americans without a valid passport to make alternate plans.

Chairman Gregory Meeks (D., N.Y.) and Ranking Member Michael McCaul (R., Tex.) of the House Foreign Affairs Committee wrote to Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday, requesting him to expedite passport processing.

Ms. Arndt stated that the department will react to Messrs. Meeks and McCaul as soon as possible.

This summer, she added, more than 150 extra employees would return to passport sites around the country. As of July 12, passport offices in 17 cities were operating with full personnel levels, with intentions to obtain clearance for the reopening of five additional locations.

When asked about applicants’ complaints about long hold times and disconnections when phoning the Department of State and its passport bureaus, Ms. Arndt responded that they themselves are to meet “unprecedented call volumes.” The majority of callers want to know about the progress of their applications, which she says can be obtained online.

When can I do travel.state gov passports tracking?

The department’s current projected turnaround periods for regular passport applications are 18 weeks includes up to 12 weeks processing and 6 weeks mailing on front and back end. The figures have been questioned by a spokesperson from the United States Postal Service. Ms. Arndt cited “anecdotal evidence” from passport applicants when asked how the State Department arrived at this conclusion.

Rachel Arndt finally concludes by saying , “It’s only when it’s received at our processing facility that we can actually track it and then only when its data entered that we will be able to provide a status update to the applicant on their passport,”. Applicants can only be able to track after 6 weeks.

So that’s when you can do the travel.state gov passports tracking. Are your queries cleared? If you have more doubts kindly look on the other blogs or buzz on to Click2visas anytime.

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