On Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urging the U.S. Department of State (DoS) to take immediate action to resolve passport processing delays and clear the unprecedented backlog of passport applications.
“The DoS has been experiencing record weekly volumes of applications since April of this year. The application wait time currently exceeds upwards of 12-13 weeks with a backlog of more than 3 million applications,” Bean’s office noted.
“The ability for American citizens to obtain a passport in a timely manner should remain one of the department’s top priorities, and the current policies of the department do not reflect this priority. Passports affect the personal and social aspects of millions of American citizens, and their lives should not be affected by the department’s incompetence,” wrote Bean.
In the letter, Bean posed a series of questions to better understand how DoS plans to address the backlog and fulfill passport requests:
What actions are the Department taking to reduce the current passport backlog and decrease the wait times for passports to be processed?
Have all 26 regional passport agencies resumed the practice of allowing walk-ins at their facilities, which was permitted prior to the suspension of normal operations on March 18, 2020?
If not, what is the plan and timeline to return this practice to pre-pandemic levels?
Does the Department plan to reimburse individuals who paid for expedited service and did not receive it?
What percentage of the State Departments workforce is currently working remote?
