Pandemic has slowed the processing of U.S. passports
Q I sent my passport in for renewal in February. My check was cashed, but I have not received my passport. Is the passport office open? If not, it won’t help those wanting to use a passport to board a plane instead of a Real ID. — Noreen Maresca, Sunnyvale
A And…
Q Regarding the young lady being unable to get a driving test so that she can get a driver’s license to fly to college in the fall, your suggestion to get a passport may be an equally frustrating one. The U.S. passport website says, “If you apply or renew now, you will experience significant delays of several months to receive your U.S. passport.” — John Davis, Menlo Park
A And…
Q I’m not sure how good the passport advice is at this point. My wife has been waiting three months for her passport. But maybe that’s just her. —randy Breunling, Ralph Durham, Monica Rising, Michael Quigley, Karen Elpers, Doris Mural And Many Others
A It’s not her fault. The U.S. State Department’s passport folks hope this may be resolved in September.
Because of public health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the feds have extremely limited passport operations. If you apply or renew now, you will experience a significant delay of possibly several months to receive your U.S. passport and the return of documents such as birth certificates or naturalization certificates. Unless you have a life-or-death emergency, wait until normal operations resume to apply for or renew your passport.
Q Your advice to the young woman who had no driver’s license and wanted to fly to get a passport was OK, but for a bit of extra hassle and money, can be improved:
She should definitely get a passport. Once she does, she should strongly consider adding one of the “fast path” cards (I chose Global Entry) that allow you to use the TSA PreCheck lines and to bypass most U.S. customs lines. A Global Entry card is the same size as a driver’s license, and, by itself, is accepted as a valid ID at airports.
The time to get a passport plus the card is a couple of months if you do everything right. The card alone is all that is needed to get on an airplane for domestic flights.
The passport is a good idea, generally. A neighbor’s daughter signed up for a term abroad — and then could not go because she could not get her passport ready in time. — Mark Johnson, Los Gatos
A Thanks, everyone. A reminder, also, that the Real ID deadline has been moved back to Oct. 1, 2021.