What’s Being Done to Prevent Future Passport Processing Backlogs?

Are you planning to travel abroad anytime soon? Got your passport ready? If not, you may be happy to hear that wait times for new or renewed passports have been decreasing since a huge backlog in 2023.

Today’s WatchBlog post looks at our new report about steps the State Department has taken to catch up and keep up with passport processing.

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Years of challenges led to the 2023 passport backlog

As COVID-era travel restrictions began to ease, international travel boomed, and so did the demand for new passports and passport renewals. This demand, paired with other challenges at the State Department, resulted in passport processing delays that left many travelers frustrated.

What contributed to the 2023 backlog?

Staffing shortages. In fiscal years 2017 and 2018, a hiring freeze resulted in staffing shortages. Although State was initially able to maintain processing timeframes during this period, staffing shortages required processing specialists to work a lot of overtime to compensate for resource constraints.

The pandemic. When much of the world was staying home and travel was extremely limited, demand for passports dropped. Data shows that the number of passport applications dropped steeply from fiscal years 2019 to 2020 before rising once again.

Passport Applications Received, Fiscal Years 2014-2023

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Post-pandemic delays. As the government lifted COVID-19 travel restrictions, demand for international travel surged. Requests for passports began stacking up. And passport processing times took a major hit. Several factors compounded delays:

• The sheer volume of applications soared. State got nearly 2 million more passport applications than expected after starting the year with over a million pending applications
   
• Continued high rates of attrition among passport specialists—the highest levels in nearly 10 years
   
• Technology challenges related to the pilot of the Online Passport Renewal system and database outages
   
• The need to divert staff to cover applicants who submitted applications both online and in-person as well as to address congressional inquiries about the delays

From May through July 2023—the height of the backlog—processing of routine applications averaged 10.5 weeks and processing of expedited applications averaged 6.1 weeks.

State took several steps to resolve the backlog, including mandatory overtime and process changes. For example, State required passport staff to work up to 24 hours of overtime per month in fiscal year 2023—more than 250,000 hours in total.

As backlogs forced travelers to change plans, State made efforts to address delays

The passport processing delays caused many travelers to postpone or cancel international trips. In response, State drastically increased the number of in-person appointments in late spring 2023. For example, the Miami passport office alone increased the number of appointments from 75 to 150 a day.

Even so, some travelers couldn’t get local appointments and resorted to flying across the country. Some traveled from as far away as Maine to the Honolulu passport agency looking for open appointments. At the height of the backlog, nearly half of appointment holders at the Honolulu office were from the continental United States.

State reported in December 2023 that wait times were finally back to the pre-pandemic levels—about 6-8 weeks. Since then, wait times have dropped further and currently stand at 4-6 weeks.

The department is now creating long-term plans to modernize processing and avoid future delays. Some improvements to better serve passport customers include:

• Improving the IT used in passport processing, including developing a live web chat for customer service providers and a system for submitting application documentation online or through a mobile device
   
• Opening six new passport offices in Charlotte, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Orlando, Salt Lake City, and San Antonio
   
• Developing a “digital passport” for identity verification that U.S. citizens could use as a companion to their passport books

But we think there’s still more State can do. For example, the department needs to identify resource needs (like staffing and funding) to ensure the success of its passport modernization projects. Read more about State’s modernization efforts in our new report.

Got a passport question? If you need help getting or renewing a passport, State’s website has all the information you’ll need, including current processing times, fees, supporting documents, expedited processing, and more.

• GAO’s fact-based, nonpartisan information helps Congress and federal agencies improve government. The WatchBlog lets us contextualize GAO’s work a little more for the public. Check out more of our posts at GAO.gov/blog.
   
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