U.S. Passport Delays

According to the U.S. Department of State, Americans who are applying for or renewing a passport will “experience significant delays of several months to receive your U.S. passport and the return of your citizenship evidence documents.”

Consequently, those who need a passport for a reason that is not a life-or-death emergency should wait until regular processes resume. If a traveler is experiencing a life-or-death emergency where travel within 72 hours is required, that traveler may find in-person passport assistance by first calling the National Passport Information Center.

Expedited service, furthermore, was suspended on March 19, 2020. Those who applied beforehand for expedited service will experience postponements in obtaining their passport and other documents.

The reduced operations come as a result of actions taken to halt the spread of the coronavirus. Also resulting from the coronavirus crisis, the deadline for REAL ID is now Oct. 1, 2021, as opposed to the original deadline of Oct. 1, 2020.

For more information, please consult the U.S. State Department’s webpage on the subject.