During the most extensive travel shutdown in modern history, hundreds of thousands of Americans let their passports expire. The crunch is forcing many Americans who need travel documents urgently to travel significant distances — sometimes even across the country — for an in-person appointment that will get their documents processed on time. He mailed it in for renewal and paid for expedited processing, which before the pandemic would have taken up to three weeks. After five weeks, with his passport still processing and his trip departure looming, he began hunting online for an appointment at one of the State Department’s 26 official passport centers and passport agencies, where he could renew in person and get the document in one day. He was told there were 50 passport inquiries ahead of his.

Source: New York Times July 14, 2021 09:01 UTC