Those looking to travel abroad this summer should double-check the expiration date on their passport because the time to process new passports now is higher than ever before.
The current processing time is now between 10 to 13 weeks, around two weeks greater than a month ago when it was eight to 11 weeks and much longer than at the beginning of February at around six to nine weeks.
Expedited passport processing time is also around two weeks longer than January at five to seven weeks.
This means that anyone trying to venture to another country in June 2023, say for UK festival Parklife or hardstyle festival Defqon.1, should send in their renewal paperwork as soon as possible and should expedite the process to be safe.
In 2022, the US State Department processed nearly 22 million passports, a greater number than at any point since they began counting in 1974.
This statistic, plus increasing seasonal demand as passengers begin to make summer travel plans, may have led to processing backups in the State Department, exacerbating the wait time to renew passports.
Featured image from Unsplash, photo credit Kelly Sikkema
