![]() ‘PLENTY OF TIME’ TO ‘WE’LL STILL BE OK’ TO BIG PROBLEMS ![]() ![]() passport, prepare for an unplanned excursion into the nightmare zone. So, 2023 traveler, if you still need a valid U.S. For everyone else, the options are few and expensive. Stories from applicants and interviews by The Associated Press depict a system of crisis management, in which the agencies are prioritizing urgent cases such as applicants traveling for reasons of “life or death” and those whose travel is only a few days off. The deluge is on-track to top last year’s 22 million passports issued, the State Department says. That’s left the passport agency flooded with a record-busting 500,000 applications a week. 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. LIST: East Texas Fourth of July firework shows, eventsĪ 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. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |