Passport requests set to break record
Over 20.5M applications expected this year, a surge from 16.8M in 2016
NEW YORK — The U.S. State Department expects 20.5 million applications for new and renewed passports this year, and that will be a record number.
The busy year is no surprise. Adult U.S. passports must be renewed every 10 years, and it was 10 years ago that a new law went into effect requiring passports for Americans traveling to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. That new law resulted in a surge of passport requests in 2007, along with extraordinary delays that stretched into months for some individuals.
This year, the State Department says it is beating promised turnaround times of six to eight weeks for processing passports.
“In 2007, it was not a good situation,” Brenda Sprague, deputy assistant secretary for passport services, said in an interview with The Associated Press. “We did a lot of post-mortem discussions and have spent 10 years getting ready for this and addressing all the challenges we expected to come. We are extremely busy but I am pleased to say that we are so far, knock wood, staying well ahead of the curve.”
Many travelers say they’ve gotten their passports processed in just a few weeks.
It took two weeks for Helen Prochilo to renew her passport in March compared with more than a month 10 years ago. “And we’ve not heard of delays from any clients,” said Prochilo of Promal Vacations, a New York-based travel agency.
At the end of April this year, the State Department had already processed more than 11 million passports, a combination of renewals and new documents. Typically about 40 percent of passport applications are renewals. Spring and summer are the busiest season for passport applications as travelers gear up for vacations.
Last year, the State Department processed 16.8 million passports, but the yearly average is closer to 13 million.