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| Travelers face frustrating passport delays |
June 01, 2007 |
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By Laura Bly, USA TODAY
When he applied for a passport in mid-February, Adam Denne wasn`t worried: Though a postal clerk told him routine applications were taking up to 10 weeks, the Arlington, Texas-based insurance adjuster wasn`t leaving on his Paris honeymoon until June.
Nearly four months and dozens of frustrated calls and e-mails later, Denne was still waiting Thursday. "The whole process is in chaos," complains the newlywed, who says he faces airline-imposed fees of at least $1,500 if he and his wife can`t make today`s flight to France.
TRAVEL TIPS: How to get a passport.
Slammed by a record number of applications since a Jan. 23 expansion of passport requirements for travelers returning by air from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, the U.S. State Department is scrambling to keep up. Last week, the department`s website (travel.state.gov) extended its recommended lead time, telling Americans to apply at least 12 weeks before they plan to travel. The department says an expedited passport, which costs an extra $60 and now accounts for about 50% of new applications, takes two to three weeks.
But according to several congressional representatives fielding an influx of calls from frantic constituents, wait times can stretch much longer.
Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., says her office is assisting with about 30 to 40 passport applications a day, up from one to three a month a year ago. Dozens of constituents have had to cancel trips, and most have been waiting "well over the (State Department`s) posted timeframes … leading to expectations that are not being met," she wrote in a May 15 letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
"They`re really putting travelers in a bind, and it`s not getting any better. It`s getting much worse," says Wilson.
Ann Barrett, deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services, says the agency is handling 1.5 million applications a month and is on track to issue 17 million new passports this year, an increase of 40% from a year ago.
"We do have a lot of work in our system right now. We have missed some calls (and) we hate to see anybody miss their trip, but I know we`re getting to the vast majority of travelers," says Barrett. The National Passport Information Center`s toll-free number, targeted to travelers leaving the country within two weeks, has expanded staff and operating hours and is adding additional phone lines next week, she adds.
Denne, meanwhile, has stopped biting his nails and started packing. After a USA TODAY reporter contacted the State Department, he learned via the department`s website that his passport had been processed and was being delivered via FedEx. He received it — just shy of 24 hours before his flight. |
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