The continuous complaints from citizens about the problems and delays they face when trying to renew or obtain a passport are becoming more frequent.
Tammy Vieco, a single mother and nurse who worked tirelessly during the pandemic, shares her experience.
For her and her 10-year-old son, a trip to Europe was more than a vacation. “This would be the first trip we’ve taken together,” Tammy said.
On the first of May, Tammy applied for her and her son’s passports in person and paid extra to get them faster. While her passport arrived within the expected processing time, her son’s did not.
Tammy relates that she received an email from the passport agency requesting the original documentation. Fearing that time was running out, since her flight to Italy was scheduled for July 25, she mailed the documents the next day. However, after almost three weeks, her son’s passport still had not arrived.
Tammy is not the only one in this situation. Other citizens have also had trouble getting appointments at the passport office. Some lawmakers say their offices have been inundated with complaints. Senator Marco Rubio tells us that his office has received 6,000 applications for passport assistance this year alone. Rubio expressed his “extreme frustration” with the way the State Department is “handling applications and renewals.”
Andrés Rodríguez, Principal Community Relations Officer for Passport Services at the State Department, says several factors are contributing to the delays. These include longer processing times and an unprecedented demand of around 400,000 passport applications each week.
“We have increased the number of hours our employees are working each day over the past few months. We have worked tens of thousands of hours of overtime adjudicating and processing passport applications. We also have a hiring plan to add new employees to our team,” explains Rodriguez.
In addition, he acknowledges that “it is very difficult to get urgent service appointments,” but encourages those who are traveling within two weeks to continue calling his call center. calls to make an appointment.
The State Department’s goal is to reduce processing time by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, Tammy finally received encouraging news: After an email was sent to the State Department about their situation, the status of her son’s passport changed, indicating that it would arrive in two days, allowing them to make their long-awaited trip to Italy.
