They’re blaming the epic wait times on lingering pandemic -related staffing shortages and a pause of online processing this year.

officials aren’t even denying the problem or predicting when it will ease. Some applicants are buying additional plane tickets to snag in-process passports where they sit - in other cities - in time to make the flights they booked in the first place. With family dreams and big money on the line, passport seekers describe a slow-motion agony of waiting, worrying, holding the line, refreshing the screen, complaining to Congress, paying extra fees and following incorrect directions. and around the world, is a maddening pre-travel purgatory defined, at best, by costly uncertainty. The result, say aspiring travelers in the U.S. passport for that 2023 trip? Buckle up, wishful traveler, for a very different journey before you step anywhere near an airport.Ī much-feared backup of U.S passport applications has smashed into a wall of government bureaucracy as worldwide travel rebounds toward record pre-pandemic levels - with too few humans to handle the load. By LAURIE KELLMAN, REBECCA SANTANA and DAVID KOENIG (Associated Press)

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