June 14th 2024.
The U.S. State Department has been working on a new passport renewal system and they have finally revealed it to the public. The agency quietly rolled out the beta test on June 12, allowing U.S. citizens to renew their passports without having to go to a physical office or mail documents.
This new system was first attempted in 2022, as a way to address the long wait times for passport renewals, which were taking up to 13 weeks. However, the initial launch was not successful. Under the new system, a limited number of citizens will be able to start their renewal application at 1 p.m. each day. Once the daily limit is reached (the exact number has not been determined yet), the application will close. The department plans to gradually increase the daily capacity, but they will still be monitoring the system closely.
According to NBC News, the new system was approved as part of President Joe Biden's 2023 budget, with $163 million allocated for redesigning passport delivery services and making important online services accessible to the public. The funds will also go towards upgrading customer-facing services at the Transportation Safety Administration and the Social Security Administration.
There are some new requirements for passport renewal under this system. Applicants must be over 25 years old, have a passport issued between 2009 and 2015, not need to make any changes to their personal information, and not plan to travel internationally within 8 weeks of submitting their renewal application.
While this new system eliminates the need for in-person visits, the processing time for renewals will still be around 6-8 weeks. Expedited services, which usually take 2-3 weeks and cost extra, will not be available for online applications.
The hope is that this new system will make the renewal process smoother and prevent any future backlogs. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, processing times had decreased significantly and have not fully recovered since travel has picked up again and agency staffing has been reduced. However, the department assures that they have returned to normal service levels.
In 2021, the processing time for a passport reached 18 weeks, but by summer 2023, it had dropped to 10-13 weeks. As of November 2023, the wait time had gone down to 7-10 weeks, and by December of that year, things were finally back to normal, marking the first time since March 2020.
To further improve the process, the State Department has approved a 12% increase in staffing between December 2022 and January 2024.
In related news, a heartwarming story has been making the rounds on social media about a 5-year-old girl who thought her mother's passport proved she was an alien. It just goes to show how important passports are for international travel and how the new system will hopefully make the process easier for everyone.
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