Traveling Internationally? How to Avoid Long Delays for a Passport
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Here's your money briefing for Thursday, May 11th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. If you're planning international travel this summer or later in the year, you'll need a passport. But if you need to order a new passport or renew your existing one, you might want to build a long wait and your travel plans.
If you are applying for standard processing, the application will take 10 to 13 weeks to process.
Why are U.S. passport wait times reaching 10 to 13 weeks?
And that doesn't include the time that it takes to be mailed back to you.
On today's show, we'll talk with our travel reporter, Alison Pohle, about ways to speed up that process and how much it'll cost you. That's after the break.
The summer travel season is almost here, but long delays in getting a passport could derail your plans to travel internationally. WSJ travel reporter Allison Pauley joins us. So Allison, what's holding up this process and why has it been going on for so long?
A lot of people are planning to travel internationally this summer, and that means they are renewing their passports or applying for them for the first time. So the State Department says it's seeing an average of 500,000 applications per week. And the number of applications it's received are 30 to 40 percent higher than they were in 2022.
How much longer are expedited and routine processing times compared with pre-pandemic levels?
That means there are a lot of people applying, but the department is struggling with staffing issues. So during the pandemic, people were not applying for passports. That meant the department let go of contractors and reassigned other personnel. They're still building back. They're authorizing a ton of overtime, opening up satellite offices, but they're struggling to keep up with demand.
Does this delay apply to new passports and renewals? And what should applicants expect?
If you are applying for routine processing, that means the standard processing, the application will take 10 to 13 weeks to process. And that doesn't include the time that it takes to be mailed back to you, which adds up to two weeks.
What fees apply for a passport book and to expedite processing?
Wow, 10 to 13 weeks? What's the normal time?
That is the normal time right now. But before the pandemic, it could take five to seven weeks for a routine application.
When should I renew to avoid being denied travel for passport expiration rules?
There's also the option to expedite your passport. And right now, expedited renewals are taking seven to nine weeks, whereas previously they took three to four weeks.
So what's the cost involved here to get a passport and to expedite it?
So the cost for a passport book, which is what you'd be using if you were getting on an international flight, is $130. To expedite it, you'll pay an additional $60.
And then for people who've already got their passport, maybe they got it years ago, are they in the clear?
A lot of destinations won't admit you if your passport expires within six months. And that's because of different visa issues for how long tourists are allowed to be there.
Can third-party services reliably speed up passport processing and which ones are legitimate?
So given the current processing times and these international rules, you should renew your passport nine months to a year before the expiration date if you don't want to be panicking.
So between all these delays and those built-in expiration date issues, it sounds like there's a lot of planning here that travelers need to do.
There is. And so if you are looking at your passport and realize, oh my gosh, it expires in July or in August, what should I do? Well, you can try to have your passport processed through the urgent travel designation. And that applies to people who are traveling internationally within nine weeks. They might not have applied yet. And you can call the Passport Information Center and make an appointment to try to move the process along more quickly.
Allison, there are some third-party companies that say they'll expedite the passport process. How reliable are they?
It depends on the company. So some will tell you that they can process the passport on their own, on their website, without involving the State Department.
What options exist if I need a passport urgently or want to avoid delays entirely?
That is not true. Those companies are a scam. And any company claiming that they can just do it on their own without the State Department's involvement is not reliable. But there are other companies like Rush My Passport, which is a courier service that is registered with the State Department's National Hand Carry Program.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:02–0:29
2
Why are U.S. passport wait times reaching 10 to 13 weeks?
0:29–1:36
3
How much longer are expedited and routine processing times compared with pre-pandemic levels?
1:36–2:22
4
What fees apply for a passport book and to expedite processing?
2:22–2:34
5
When should I renew to avoid being denied travel for passport expiration rules?
2:34–3:17
6
Can third-party services reliably speed up passport processing and which ones are legitimate?
3:17–4:16
7
What options exist if I need a passport urgently or want to avoid delays entirely?
4:16–6:31
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from WSJ Your Money Briefing
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