President Bush has signed a new law authorizing the State Department to hire retired Foreign Service officers to help with the backlog of passport applications.
This should be of some help in getting “expedited passports” turned around more quickly. “Expedited passport processing” has been taking as long as six to eight weeks instead of two to three weeks as was formerly the case.
The Charlotte Observer reports continuing problems with “new passports” and “passport renewals” being issued late.
The Observer reports complaints from a North Carolina member of Congress:
” ‘It’s a perfect mess,’ said U.S. Rep. Brad Miller of Raleigh, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He questioned State and Homeland Security department leaders in a congressional hearing last month about the passport delays.
“So far this year, Miller’s district offices in North Carolina have handled about 575 passport requests from irate constituents — more than three times as many as for all of 2006. ‘It’s hard to imagine why Homeland Security did not see this coming and were so totally unprepared for the crush,’ Miller said.”
The problem was that there was limited information on how many U.S. citizens were traveling to nearby countries including “Mexico and Canada, both of which now require passports for air travel.”
The Observer article reports, “Nobody really had any hard data” about the number of Americans who crossed the Mexican and Canadian borders without passports, said Patrick Kennedy, director of management policy at the State Department.
The log jam is enormous. About 2.3 million Americans have applications pending at the nation’s processing facilities.
A reporter from the Observer went to the New Orleans Passport Agency and reported as follows:
“On a recent visit to the New Orleans passport agency, boxes of applications were stacked 6 feet high and crammed in a 12th-floor mailroom where workers spend hours each day and night sorting and sending them on to the next step.
Each of the 230 people on staff can process a few hundred passport applications a day. But then the mail truck comes again, dumping more than 10,000 applications on the heaviest days.
“It’s like working all day to push a huge rock up a hill and every night it rolls back down; the next day you just have to push it up again,” said Phil Pusateri, the customer service manager.”
By Jon Wuebben
Making plans to travel to Mexico this year? Is a Mexico family vacation in your future, or are you looking to take a little time for rest and relaxation on the sandy white beaches of Cancun or Puerto Vallarta?
Well, your timing is right. It promises to be another fantastic year south of the border for all of the major Mexico resort hot spots! In fact, 16 million Americans will probably visit Mexico this year.
Be sure you are prepared before you travel, as there have been some new requirements issued by the U.S. State Department. Although it’s a minor change from prior travel requirements, it affects all U.S. citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. Essentially, all that is required is a passport, which most frequent travelers have anyway. The goal? To make it safer for you and to strengthen United States border security.
Here are some important facts you should know:
* The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (PDF link) requires that by January 1, 2008, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States.
* In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines.
* The proposed timeline will be as follows:
- December 31, 2006 - Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
- December 31, 2007 - Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.
The Easy Way to get a Passport
First, when applying for a passport, make sure you allow enough time! It typically takes 6 weeks to process a passport application. Where can you apply for a passport? The State Department
provides a handy search tool to help you find the Passport Acceptance Facility nearest you.
What’s the busiest time for passport processing? Usually between January and July. Of course, if you have an emergency and need to travel to Mexico right away, the State Dept does offer some options. Go to their website or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center: on 1-877-4USA-PPT.
Additional Tips for Travel to Mexico
* Be sure to leave your travel itinerary and passport information with a friend or relative in case the originals are lost. It can also be helpful to carry a copy of your travel documents with you in a separate location from the originals.
* Avoid traveling with large amounts of cash. Credit cards are widely accepted and most areas visited by tourist will have an ATM machine. These are great options because they are safe, convenient and you get a favorable exchange rate. Another option is to use traveler’s checks.
* Using a fanny pack or travelers wallet for your cash and passport is a great idea.
* While they are making great strides in improving the water quality throughout Mexico, it is advisable to drink bottled water. In addition, avoid drinking beverages over ice as the ice may have been made from tap water.
* Wash vegetables and fruits in a purifying solution of some type.
* Before leaving, check with your health insurance provider so that you are aware of your coverage.
* If you are planning to drive over the border be sure to obtain a temporary import permit and all the necessary insurance.
So now that you’ve been informed, what are you waiting for? Mexico is a land of incredible beauty and natural wonder! Whether you’re going to sunny Cancun, festive Acapulco, or even Puerto Vallarta, your perfect Mexican vacation getaway is just a flight away!
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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order or renew your passport.
About The Author:
This article was written by Jon Wuebben, of Custom Copywriting. Jon writes select pieces about travel in Mexico for the CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort.
The article below, about the problems securing a passport, appeared on Yahoo today. The fact is that even an expedited passport can take six weeks to be issued. Here is the article:
Need a passport in a hurry? Good luck!
By BETH J. HARPAZ, AP Travel Editor
NEW YORK - Need a passport in a hurry? Good luck!
You can pay extra for expedited service from the State Department, but there are no guarantees. You can ask for an appointment at a passport center, but you may not get one. You can ask your congressman to intervene. Or you can hire a private expediter.
Whatever you do, the experience may leave you bitter.
“The last few months have been the most expensive, the most frustrating and the most nerve-racking time that I’ve had in my life,” said James Meehan, 21, a University of Southern California student who spent hours on the phone and hours at the federal building in Los Angeles trying to get the passport he applied for in May for a trip to Brazil in July. It didn’t arrive in time, so he also had to pay to change his tickets.
“There’s nobody to help and there’s nobody to care,” Meehan said. “You really do not have a voice. After all the problems I faced, who am I going to call? President Bush? The Better Business Bureau? I can’t take my service elsewhere. It’s not like canceling a cell phone.”
The six-week process for obtaining a passport ballooned to 12 weeks when new regulations were imposed in January requiring passports for air travel from Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean. Last month those rules were relaxed. Now Americans returning from those countries only need a receipt showing they applied for a passport.
But a backlog in processing passports remains. Here are options for desperate travelers, with anecdotes about how well they work.
• You can pay $60 plus overnight delivery fees for expedited service from the State Department. “The process can generally be completed in about two to three weeks,” said Ann Barrett, deputy assistant secretary of state for passport services.
Maura Harty, assistant secretary of consular affairs, said that “we regularly provide passports in one day or, in some cases, the same day, for travelers with urgent needs,” including “life-and-death emergencies.”
For leisure travel, Jessica Labaire of TNT Vacations in Boston said the expedited service “often works, but in many cases, it has not worked. It’s been completely sporadic.” Many TNT customers canceled trips this year when passports did not arrive in time. “We estimate a 10 to 20 percent loss in business because of this,” she said.
Jacqueline Hahey, 25, of Scottsdale, Ariz., applied for an expedited passport in May and got it in a week, in time for a trip to Costa Rica. “I”d just heard so many horrible stories, I almost fell over when it arrived at my door,” she said. “But it’s really so random - it’s the luck of the draw.”
• You can try getting help or an appointment by phone. “We encourage applicants seeking expedited service to contact us first for an appointment. Depending on the situation, we may be able to provide expedited service without having them come to a passport office,” said Barrett.
But getting through isn’t easy. “After 10 to 15 minutes of dead silence on the phone, you get a recording that says, ‘We’re sorry, there are no appointments available.’ Then they hang up on you,” said Meehan.
Amy Pennar, 22, of Tempe, Ariz., applied for a passport 14 weeks before her June 2 wedding in Poland. She panicked when it hadn’t arrived by mid-May.
“I’m frantically calling every day, but it would take two hours to get through, and so many people are on hold, it just hangs up on you,” said Pennar.
• You can contact your congressional representative.
With help from Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Pennar got her passport, and made it to the church in Krakow on time.
“We’ve had well over 200 cases in just the past two months,” said Flake spokesman Matt Specht.
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Miami, who called the passport backlog “outrageous, incomprehensible, unconscionable” at a July 11 congressional hearing, has helped 100 constituents with passport problems.
Rep. John Sarbanes, D-Md., has helped 240 families, including Matt Stuart. When Stuart’s passport hadn’t arrived 15 weeks after applying, his fiancee got 200 people to e-mail Sarbanes with the subject line, “Save Matt Stuart’s honeymoon!”
Sarbanes’ staff got a July 17 appointment for Stuart at a passport office, and he hopes to get the passport in time for a July 19 departure for Venice.
“Otherwise we’ll be honeymooning in Ocean City, Maryland,” said the bride, Crystalyn Thienpont, who directs “word-of-mouth services” at MGH Advertising in Owings Mills, Md.
“I’m glad that we could help the honeymooners - which we obviously would have done regardless of the e-mails,” Sarbanes said.
• You can pay a private expediter. Some 200 private companies are authorized by the State Department to obtain passports on behalf of others, according to Robert Smith, director of the National Association of Passport and Visa Services. NAPVS represents 20 of the largest expediters, handling hundreds of thousands of passport applications a year.
Each company is allotted a quota of daily appointments at passport offices. But they can’t fish your passport out of the bureaucracy if you’ve already applied, unless you cancel your original application and start the process over.
Demand for expediting services has increased, but the number of applications individual expediters are allowed to submit has decreased, Smith said.
“Every day we’re turning away people,” said Smith. “We’re not able to serve everyone who’s looking for help.”
CIBT Inc., the nation’s largest expediter with offices in seven cities, charges $174 to get a passport in four days or more, and $254 for a “super-rush emergency,” said spokesman Steven Diehl. “We’ve seen a 50 percent increase in passport work during the first six months of 2007, and we’ve nearly doubled our call volume.”
CIBT deals mostly with tour operators and corporate clients, but has been able to accommodate most requests from the public, Diehl said.
The State Department expects nearly 18 million passport applications this year, up from 12.1 million last year. The agency hired extra staff and ordered diplomats home with a goal of “reducing passport turnaround time to normal levels by the end of the year,” said Harty. “The passport situation is a top priority at the State Department, and we are devoting resources and personnel to getting back on track.”
(Article from Yahoo)
The article below is from the online periodical, “Government Executive.” I include several comments on the article addressing the subject that appeared with the article.
House backs bill to boost hiring for passport processing By Brittany R. Ballenstedt
The House on Monday approved legislation that would enable the State Department to bring in extra help to process passport applications.
The bill (S. 966), which the Senate passed late last month, would allow State to rehire retired Foreign Service employees to staff overwhelmed passport processing centers across the country.
Demand for passports increased significantly at the beginning of this year, when travelers were required to comply with a 2004 law mandating passports for all U.S. citizens traveling by air within the Western Hemisphere. That requirement has been suspended to allow citizens with pending passport applications to travel until Sept. 30 with proof that they’ve applied.
Currently, the department is receiving more than 1 million passport applications a month and holds a backlog of about 500,000 that have been pending more than 10 weeks, instead of the usual six to eight, said Edgar Vasquez, a spokesman.
The House legislation would grant State the flexibility to rehire retired and fully trained passport processors on a temporary basis to help existing processors manage the increased demand.
Retirees now have little incentive to return because current law cuts their salaries by the amount of their pensions. While the department has some authority to waive such rules, that authority is limited to personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Bill sponsor Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement that the current bottleneck is affecting all stages of passport processing, from the initial scanning of an application to the adjudication of citizenship. Call centers to assist people in New York City and across the country are overwhelmed with passport processing questions but do not have the staff to address the calls, Schumer said.
“The passport system is on the path toward a mass meltdown as processing delays have pushed the average wait time to two and a half months,” Schumer said. “By pulling these Foreign Service members off the bench, the State Department will gain additional manpower that could well be the key to breaking this passport logjam.”
State has tried lengthening work hours and requiring overtime, but has said it still lacks qualified personnel who have undergone the background checks necessary to handle sensitive passport adjudications. Currently, it takes the department between three months and a year to vet and train a new passport adjudicator, leaving the agency with little flexibility to handle surges in demand.
Vasquez said that the legislation would help a great deal, but meanwhile, the department has rolled out plans to return the time to six weeks by the end of this year. It plans to do this through an adjudication training program for Presidential Management Fellows and recent college graduates, who, after training, will move to one of the two busiest passport agencies in the country — the Portsmouth, N.H., and New Orleans offices. The sole focus of these employees will be to address the backlog, Vasquez said.
Vasquez added that through the training program, State plans to reduce the backlog and processing time to eight weeks by the end of September, and reach the six week goal by the end of the year.
He said, however, that the new legislation could help the department address the problem faster. “We welcome any such move by the Congress that will assist us in correcting the situation with the passports,” he said.
COMMENTS
I am a current Federal Employee, I applied for the Passport Specialist position nearly one month ago. Still have not heard yes, no, maybe?. The State Department IS NOT trying fix this problem. They can’t, they don’t know how. If they were, they would be filling these position and getting people their passports. What’sUpWithThat? Posted July 17, 2007 11:01 AM
Hiring more people may help with the backlog. But what happens to them after the backlog is cleared up? I get tired of people trying to put the blame on others. The Passport Agency is not at fault here. It has been know for sometime that the new regulations would go into effect in January. Anyone that expected to travel this year should have applied for their passports earlier. My passport was to expire in February. I renewed it in October instead and had it back in three weeks. My position is not to hire additional processors. Let those who procrastinated wait and reinstate the requirements. Ralph Rankin Posted July 17, 2007 9:21 AM
I am leaving for Italy on July 25, 2007 to attend a family wedding and see my elderly relatives. I send for my renewal in mid-May. I supposedly made an appointment with the Passport agency in Philadelphia [through the dummy automated system]. I don’t understand why there is such a problem. Once they lifted the restrictions for passports to the islands, mexico, etc., the processing volume should not be any different than usual. This is a disgrace. I think it is just a way for the State Department to collect expedited fees. My cousin sent for a “new” passport a few weeks after I sent for mine and paid the expedited $60 fee. Guess what, she has her passport. I am sorry but this does not make sense to me. I think we should be reimbursed for any costs we incur to get a passport and most importantly for any lost travel expenses. Rosemarie Maribello Posted July 17, 2007 8:17 AM
The U.S. Department of State is now requiring additional information from consumers when tracking online status of pending U.S. passport applications and/or obtaining proof that a U.S. passport application has been received by the State Department and is still being processed.
U.S. citizens are now required to include last name, including suffixes (that is, for example, “Junior”, etc.), date of birth and the last four digits of the applicant’s social security number. Use of the application locator number has been temporarily suspended for security reasons.
At present, it is taking seven to 20 days for passport applications to appear in the Passport Services’ online tracking system.
The State Department’s recent announcement on the Temporary Travel Flexibility for U.S. Citizens with Pending Passport Applications now requires U.S. citizens traveling by air to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, or the Caribbean to have a printout of a passport application status for departure from the U.S. and for re-entry into the U.S.
The State Department also notes that some Western Hemisphere countries have always required a passport or additional documentation and travelers are advised to check the Foreign Entry Requirements for more information.
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Planning a trip outside the U.S.? Click here to find out what the Foreign Entry Requirements are for travel outside the U.S.
Here is an article about the State Departments’s effort to solve the passport backlog. The State Department Passport Agency has received a lot of bad press, but A Briggs believes it is doing okay at meeting this unprecedented passport demand as this article shows. The article:
State Department ups ante to deal with passport crisis
Foreign service personnel with consular experience asked to volunteer•
Government to pay travel, lodging and per diem costs
Two groups of 50 diplomats each are needed
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. State Department is trying to lure diplomats back home during the next two months to help clear a massive backlog in passport applications. If successful, the operation could affect services at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide.
Unable to cope with almost 3 million backed up applications and thousands more that are pouring in each day, the department has issued an urgent all-points global appeal seeking volunteers to return to the United States at government expense in July and August to deal with the problem.
The department faces withering criticism from citizens and lawmakers over its failure to cope with unprecedented passport demand that has led to major delays in processing and disrupted travel plans for thousands.
The problem reflects a massive rush for passports by Americans because of security upgrades requiring them for more travelers that have been passed since the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Traditionally, few Americans have bothered with passports because most never ventured beyond Canada or Mexico. Even those cross-border outings are in line to require passports eventually.
“I am asking all foreign service personnel with consular experience to look at whether you can volunteer and serve our citizens here at home,” Undersecretary of State for Management Henrietta Fore said in a cable sent Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions abroad.
“All related travel, lodging, and per diem costs will be covered,” she said in the unclassified memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The memo also offers training and refresher courses for those whose consular knowledge might be rusty.
“The needs are real, and we need your help now,” Fore said. “We recognize, and accept, that there will be an impact on other services and activities. All volunteers are welcome.”
Two groups of 50 diplomats each are needed. The offer expands on a similar but less costly appeal this month for diplomats planning to be on home leave this summer to work at the overwhelmed National Passport Center in New Hampshire and other processing facilities.
The department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs, which oversees passport operations, could not say how much money may have been set aside to pay for airfare, hotels and meals for the volunteers.
Officials said the offer is an indication of the department’s determination to end the passport mess that has crippled the system despite the hiring of additional staff.
Fore said the goal is to clear the backlog by the end of September, when a temporary suspension of a major new border security initiative that had caused the surge in applications expires.
This article is a fairly accurate reporting of the actual situation of firms like A Briggs and their dealings with the Passport Agency.
Before the passport problems of this year, we would routinely tell persons calling us because they needed a passport that they didn’t need to use us if they were leaving in four weeks or more. Now, we are never sure exactly what to tell callers, because there have been so many problems reported to us.
Here is the article from the Houston Post:
Buggs:
Fast route to passport paved with cash
By SHANNON BUGGS
Throw money at the problem.
That seems to be the only workable solution to the passport mess the federal government made.
Rules that went into effect in January require all U.S. citizens to have passports to leave and re-enter the U.S. by airplane.
So travelers, used to flying to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and Caribbean nations using only a driver’s license and birth certificate, flooded regional passport offices with applications.
The backlog is so deep, the application processing time has doubled from the usual six weeks to 12, although the State Department says it will whittle it down to eight weeks by fall.
Key receipt takes time
Earlier this month, the State Department relaxed the rules temporarily.
Until September, air travelers to these major tourist destinations can continue using their licenses and birth certificates as proof of identity as long as they present a receipt confirming that a passport application has been filed.
Although you can download that receipt from the State Department Web site, it could take as long as 10 business days from the time you submit the application to when you can print the receipt.
That catch — the receipt processing time — is a detail many travelers have overlooked.
But in the same amount of time, if you pay about double the usual passport fees, you could have your actual passport and not a piece of paper saying it’s on its way.
What expediters do
For fees of $100 to $200, expediters, also known as courier services or passport and visa firms, handle much of the legwork for passport applications.
That cost is tacked on to the $60 the government charges for expedited service and the passport application, as well as execution fees of: $67 for a renewal; $97 for a first-time passport for anyone age 16 or older; and $82 for those under age 16.
Adult passports are good for 10 years and children’s for five.
“One thing that I have seen a lot of lately is people contacting their local Congress people for support and assistance,” said Steve Diehl, vice president of business development for CIBT, the nation’s largest expediter. “And a lot of senators and Congress people have been calling us to help to get passports released. That never used to happen. That’s really unheard-of.”
‘By the rules’
The reason expediters can get done what you can’t is they don’t have to call the automated appointment number to schedule times with passport agents. The firms register with the State Department to act as authorized representatives for citizens, and their sensitive personal documents, and are allotted a set number of appointment times to handle their clients’ business.
“We go by the rules,” said Maria Lowe, owner of Wide World Visas, a passport agency and expediter in downtown Houston. “We represent people who are waiting in line like everyone else, but we do the footwork and spend the waiting time.”
And the rules as established by the State Department are that each of the 15 regional passport agencies determines the number of appointment times that will be reserved for expediters, said
Steve Royster, a consular affairs spokesman.
“They allow us to submit 25 cases a day,” Lowe said of the Houston passport agency. “Out of those cases, we can only have three rushes that can be obtained in 24 hours. I can get you a passport on a regular basis in about two weeks.”
Because Diehl’s international firm has outlets in seven of the U.S.
cities with passport offices, it keeps a database of all its appointment allotments and advises its mostly corporate customers to send passport paperwork to the office with the appropriate availability.
Of all the passport agencies, Diehl said Seattle and New York “continue to be relatively easy to work with. They pretty much have kept it together through all of this crisis.”
Businesses feel crunch
The bureaucratic breakdown is starting to affect more than vacationers, he said, generating many new corporate clients for CIBT, including an airline based in Atlanta.
“Pilots are not being able to fly scheduled flights because they can’t get their passports renewed on time,” Diehl said. “A lot of business is starting to be jeopardized by staffers not being able to get their passports turned around quickly. That’s an ongoing horror story that we are starting to see every day.”
Now, you know Fortune 500 companies are not about to lose out on millions of dollars of revenue to save a few pennies on getting passports processed. And neither should you.
Throw money at this problem to prevent canceling or delaying your vacation or business trip. You shouldn’t have to, but the federal government really hasn’t given you a choice in the matter.
Columnist Shannon Buggs has completed the personal finance planning certificate program at the University of Houston. Contact her at shannon.buggs@chron.com.
Brought to you by the HoustonChronicle.com
The Passport Agency is paying refunds to passport applicants who paid the government $60 expedite fee and didn’t receive their passports in a timely manner. If this happened to you, by all means apply for the refund, but expect to wait several months to receive a response.
Here is the article:
Govt. to refund travelers whose passports weren’t expedited
Updated
By Devlin Barrett, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON — Frustrated travelers who paid an extra $60 to get their U.S. passports expedited — and still had to wait for them — can now get a refund from the government.
The decision to refund the money, disclosed in a State Department document sent Tuesday to members of Congress, represents the latest effort to come to grips with a massive backlog in passport applications that has ruined or delayed summer vacation plans for thousands in the United States.
The delays were largely due to a new rule that requires U.S. citizens to have passports when flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Last week, the government announced it was suspending that rule until September, as long as travelers to those countries carried a printout receipt showing they had applied for a passport.
The passport delays were so bad that many of those who paid for faster service, at a cost of $60 plus the regular processing fees of $97 for a new passport, did not receive their passports within the expected 14 days. Some who paid extra waited for a month or more.
“It’s an outrage to pay over $150 for a passport and still have your travel plans ruined,” said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., who had previously called for the refunds.
Schumer also chided State officials for not doing more to publicize the refunds, saying they should be “shouting this refund policy from the rooftops, not whispering it in the wind.”
The State Department document, obtained by The Associated Press, says passport applicants who paid for, but did not get, expedited service should send a written refund application to the agency’s refund office in Washington. They should provide their passport number, if available, their name, date and place of birth, the approximate date they applied for the passport, as well as a mailing address and phone number.
Homeland Security officials have warned that the passport delays will not affect their schedule of requiring passports of everyone driving across the border into Canada or Mexico beginning in January 2008 — a rule that some experts believe will lead to a fourfold increase in new demand for passports.