State Department adds employees, phone lines to handle passport demand

Changes in passport requirements for U.S. citizens re-entering the United States have placed an added burden on the State Department’s passport processing ability. As a result, what used to take two to three weeks for regular service now takes 10 to 12 weeks.

But that’s going to change.

The State Department announced recently that it has added new employees, expanded call center hours and increased phone staff to help address the bottleneck resulting from the new requirements. A new passport processing facility in Hot Springs, AR, that just came online is expected to produce 10 million passports a year once it’s running at full capacity.

Travelers can check the status of their passport applica­tions online at: http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/status/status_2567.html.

To read the entire State Department statement, go to: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/may/85433.htm.