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A large backlog of passport applications that was waiting to be processed when the Bureau of Consular Affairs, which also handles visas, went into lockdown in mid-March has been tackled. Passport processors are now chipping away at applications that have arrived since then.

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Now, after resuming operations on a limited basis in mid-June, officials say they have worked through the initial backlog and expect to return to normal processing times this fall. “We’ve gotten through essentially all of the backlog work, and now we’re getting back to a regular rhythm,” Ian Brownlee, the principal deputy in Consular Affairs, said this week in a video chat on the future of international travel hosted on the travel website The Points Guy. “If you’re thinking of traveling nine months out, why not apply now? The thing’s good for 10 years.”

Despite the optimistic outlook, there are still delays. The State Department says it currently takes about 10 weeks to process a passport, from application to delivery in the mail. That’s up from the six to eight weeks it typically took before the pandemic brought almost everything to a halt and the State Department stopped issuing expedited passports, which for an extra fee can get a passport in just two or three weeks.

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...all passport processors have been declared “mission critical employees.” But the passport centers where they work are only opening gradually, after local health authorities say it is safe for workers to return.

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