Summer is the peak travel season for Americans, but this year, many are not able to cross borders because of a massive passport processing backlog that is likely to extend into the winter months.
NBC 5 Responds first reported on the massive backlog this past April and since then, there has been some progress.
The U.S. State Department’s Consular Affairs division has been working on the backlog and a spokesperson said the demand has gone down slightly, but it is still a concern through the end of the year.
Evelyn Branch of North Austin knows this first-hand.
Branch said she loves to travel and is always counting down the days until her next vacation, including this fall.
“We were going to go to the Canary Islands,” Branch said.
A visit to the Canary Islands was part of her upcoming trip to Spain. But unfortunately, Evelyn said a delay in renewing her passport caused her to miss the booking deadline, at no fault of her own.
“I was upset. I really was,” Branch said. “I was so looking forward to this trip.”
Branch said she applied for a passport renewal in April, anticipating she’d get it back by June 15th, the last day she could book her trip.
When she learned about the backlog, she said she called the State Department, finally getting in touch with the an employee who said they would help her expedite the renewal.
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“We can expedite it, but it’s going to cost you another $60,” Branch said. “And if you want it back another day or two later, you have to pay another $20. So I did that.”
But even after paying the expedited renewal fees, the passport didn’t arrive in time.
“I was happy, I knew it was going to come,” Branch said. “But it didn’t come.”
The State Department said it is receiving 400,000 new applications every week, down from the 500,000 applications the agency was receiving this past April.
Those numbers are making it difficult to keep up with the demand, said Andres Rodriguez with the Office of Passport Services.
“The processing times are longer now and we are doing our best to communicate to the U.S. public that you need to measure your expectations and apply sooner than later,” Rodriguez said.
Right now, State Department officials said receiving a passport may take up to 13 weeks. And if you expedite it, it may take up to nine weeks.
The State Department said if you do need a new one, the best advice is to apply sooner rather than later. Understand that wait times are lengthier than usual and will likely stay that way through the end of the year.
If you have a trip within 14 days and are still waiting for a passport, the State Department says the only option is to get an appointment at one of their offices, though those appointments can be tough to secure and you may have to plan to travel out of the city for one.
With the backlog, travel experts advise consumers to not book airfare or hotel reservations without having an updated passport in hand.
The State Department has also said it will refund any fees paid for expedited processing if the agency doesn’t meet its end of the bargain. (To learn more about the process for applying for a refund, click here)
In Branch’s case, she said she was never charged those fees since she didn’t receive her passport in time.
Branch said she’s sharing her experience in hopes of preventing others from missing out on a trip of a lifetime.
“I would definitely tell you to just check your passport and renew as soon as possible,” she said. “I don't care what day your trip is on. Renew as soon as possible. Because you just never know how it's going to turn out when you send in your application.”
