Original Article appeared in the Seattle Times: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003622605_passport17.html
The State Department is warning travelers to brace for lengthy delays in getting U.S. passports, even when they pay an extra fee to expedite their applications.
Passport requests usually shoot up this time of year ahead of the spring and summer travel season. But the department said a crush of new applications — more than 1 million a month — has inundated its staff since the government in late January started requiring U.S. airline passengers, including children, to show a passport upon their return from Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean.
Previously, many Americans used other identity documents, such as birth certificates, for travel to those places.
Because of the glut, it could take 10 weeks instead of the usual six to process routine applications, according to the department — and that has some travelers worried about missing planned trips.
Expedited requests, which cost an extra $60 on top of the normal $110 fee, could take four weeks instead of two.
People who have not received their passports two weeks before their trips are generally being told to go to one of the passport agencies across the country. They often encounter long lines and no guarantee they'll leave with a passport.
The department has hired hundreds of employees to process passport requests over the past two years as tougher immigration rules have taken effect, but U.S. customer-service centers nonetheless are struggling to cope with the higher volume.
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