The U.S. State Department is estimated to receive 25 million more requests in 2023 for passports.
Last year, the department received a record 22 million requests.
In a press conference in Washington D.C. Friday, Sen. Mark R. Warner called attention to the situation, and criticized processing times, flaws in the now-shuttered online renewal pilot system and wait times on the travel emergency phone line.
“We’ve seen these workers, you know, work on Saturdays, work overtime, as we try to get through this enormous challenge,” Warner said. “The flip side is we also know this is a crisis.”
The crisis was created by the COVID-19 pandemic, during which Republicans cut funding, travel was limited, the government was on hiring freezes and renewal fees decreased, ABC News reported.
Routine applications for regular passports are processed in an estimated 10 to 13 weeks. Expedited passports take seven to nine weeks to process.
Warner said he will push for the State Department to hire more staff. He wrote to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in March 2023 after the pilot renewal system was shut down in February 2023, six months after it began. Constituents voiced frustrations and concerns to Warner about the system.
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Rebecca Barnabi
