Need a New Passport During pandemic? You'll Have to Wait a While

+Need a New Passport During pandemic? You'll Have to Wait a While

Need a new passport during pandemic? On June 2, the State Department announced that it would begin opening passport offices and resume by-mail renewals.

 In three phases following CDC guidelines (only adults who are renewing their passports have the option to apply by mail; new passport applicants and all children under 16 must go to a passport center in person). Passport agencies and facilities throughout the country—there are more than 7,000—will reopen following their respective state's and city's rules.

Phase 1 allows a limited group of government employees to return to work and begin processing backed-up applications. By Phase 3, the entire staff will have returned. But specific International travel ground almost completely to a halt in March, when Covid-19 forced border closures and a global shutdown of just about every travel-related activity. As summer approaches, however, several countries are taking cautious steps to ease lockdowns and prepare to welcome visitors again.

US department travel advisory

The U.S. State Department's travel advisory is still at a level four (aka "Do Not Travel") but declining infection numbers in many parts of the world have fostered a sense of hope that maybe, just maybe, international travel might start up again soon.

If you have passport?

That is, of course, only if you have an up-to-date passport. U.S. citizens who need to renew their passport, or apply for a new one, can expect delays, according to the State Department. That's because the agency sent most of its employees home as a part of a Covid-related temporary shutdown. Since then, it has provided services only to those in life-or-death situations. (For obvious security reasons, State Department employees can't process passport applications from home.)

IF you sended application before 19th march

Anyone who sent in an application right before March 19, or anytime thereafter, should expect significant delays—up to several months or more—in having their passports issued. Under normal circumstances, routine applications take six to eight weeks to process while expedited service takes three to four weeks. At this time, it's not even possible to check on the status of a passport renewal.

Processing time will be the same regardless if you renew your passport by mail or in person. If you qualify for a by-mail application, it's recommended you choose that option in order to reduce contact with others. Passport requests will be completed in the order that they were received.

A word of advice: If your passport is about to expire, prepare and submit the paperwork now rather than wait until travel bans are lifted, at which point there will surely be a deluge of travelers eager to get their passport up-to-date.

For more information, go to travel.state.gov