Dakotah Hendricks from Virginia Beach, Va., made sure that she followed the rules to be able to go visit her husband who is deployed in the Middle East this summer.
She submitted an application for a new passport a few months ahead of time and then she paid to expedite processing. She stayed calling the hotline for passports, and even sought advice from the local congressman. Four months after, Hendricks had no choice other than to skip her flight.
“I made an application for this with enough cushion to allow for delay,” She told NPR. “But it did not matter.”
All across the country, eagerly awaited reunions and long-awaited vacations are being disrupted with what State Department described as an “unprecedented need to obtain passports.”
The department in March stated that the standard processing time for a brand new or renewed passport could be as long as 13 weeks. But many travelers find that the wait time is far over that, leaving travel arrangements ruined and passengers seeking refunds for accommodation and airfare.
The State Department says it receives approximately 400,000 applications every week.
The long-running delays in passports are in large part due to the pandemic. While the epidemic has diminished, the travelers’ interest in traveling internationally has increased and has led to a rise in the number of applications for passport renewals or new passports.
In July it is estimated that the State Department receives about 400,000 applications every week. This is just slightly less than the record-breaking number of 500,000 applications that were received each week in the months of January and May.
The year before in the year 2000, U.S. issued 22 million passports — a record high — and is predicted to beat the record in this year.
A spokesperson from State Department spokeswoman said State Department said they are hiring more staff and are granting overtime in order to meet the increasing demand. The department plans to create a website to process online passport renewals at the time the end in the calendar year. The option to apply online is expected to facilitate around a quarter of all applications.
The long wait time and the thousands of dollars in lost
Keisha Peterson of Maryland saved for a whole year more than $3000 to go on a trip to the Bahamas which was her 9-year-old daughter’s very first trip to the Bahamas. They were planning to leave on Sunday.
However, instead in packing Peterson stated that she’s trying to figure out if she can receive a credit or voucher for the flights they take, as her daughter’s passport was not appear on time.
“I’m being devastated, disappointed I’m frustrated, angry and exhausted,” she told NPR. “It shouldn’t be this difficult to obtain an identity card.”
Peterson completed her daughter’s application back in March. A couple of weeks later she was informed that she had not submitted the required documents. After she submitted the correct paperwork, Peterson learned on Friday that the department had made the wrong choice of what documents they needed.
The only positive thing, Peterson said, was the fact that her daughter didn’t be aware of the trip or that it was cancelled due to the fact that it was intended to be to be a surprise.
“What she doesn’t understand can’t harm her,” she said.
However, Hendricks rescheduled her flight to an Mediterranean country in which her and her husband were planning to meet in the middle of July. Prior to this, Hendricks, a former soldier in the U.S. Navy, did not require a passport since military personnel do not require one if they go to another country.
Hendricks said that if she doesn’t have her passport before then she’ll be missing approximately $2,500 and not be able to visit the husband she has with her until after he comes back from his deployment at the at the end in the calendar year.
“It’s the only opportunity I have,” she said. “The how his schedule works and I can’t be granted the chance to get a new start.”
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