They're blaming the epic wait times on lingering pandemic -related staffing shortages and a pause of online processing this year. Then the State Department upped the wait time for a regular passport to as much as 13 weeks. Her quest for three passports stretched from January to June, days before travel. Finally, she showed up in person at the federal building in downtown Houston, 30 minutes before the passport office opened. She ended up showing up at the passport office in Dallas with her daughter-in-law at 6:30 a.m. and being sorted into groups and lined up against walls.

Source: The Nation July 03, 2023 06:39 UTC