NYC Gazette

Surge in Constituent Requests Received to Help with Urgent Passport Applications

Volume of Passport Requests Increased 30 to 40 Percent in One Year

Follows Goldman’s Request in March for State Department to Address Delays and Staffing Shortages at U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Affecting Americans’ Ability to Return Home

Washington D.C. – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today sent a letter to U.S. State Department, requesting information on the status of the current passport backlog. The letter also requests information on how to proactively prevent delays in passport applications in the future. Congressman Goldman’s office received numerous requests from his constituents in New York’s 10th Congressional District regarding urgent passport applications. Constituents are facing increased wait times as the volume of passport requests has increased 30 to 40 percent in one year.

“My office has received numerous complaints over the past weeks from concerned New Yorkers who are attempting to make decisions and plan their lives around the uncertainty of receiving their passports in a timely manner,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Families are not only attempting to plan their vacations as we approach the summer months, but also dealing with urgent travel needs to deal with family emergencies abroad. While I applaud the work my team has been able to do in helping our constituents, we need more answers from the State Department in order to understand the magnitude of the backlog and how we can proactively address this recurring issue.”  

Congressman Goldman asks that any constituent with urgent passport needs and travel in less than two weeks contact his District Office for assistance.

In March, Congressman Goldman joined colleagues in demanding answers from the State Department after the Department’s decision to disallow emergency passport appointments for families with young children in Israel, which resulted in the State Department reversing this policy.

Read the Full Letter Below:

The Honorable Rita Bitter

Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs

Bureau of Consular Affairs

U.S Department of State

2201 C Street NW

Washington, D.C. 20520

Dear Assistant Secretary Bitter,

Our constituents rely on the efficient and predictable provision of government services to make decisions and plan their lives. We know that the State Department can face unexpected challenges just like any large institution, but when those challenges persist, our constituents deserve explanations, communication, and recompense.

Last month, Secretary Antony Blinken testified before the House Appropriations Committee about the “dramatic” increase in passport requests, noting that the State Department is “getting 500,000 applications a week for a passport. That's 30 to 40% above last year.”[1]  Congressional offices subsequently have been experiencing an influx of constituent requests for assistance on passports, now consisting of a disproportionate percentage of our Office’s constituent services caseload. Moreover, although the State Department issued roughly 22 million passport applications last fiscal year, it is clear that applications this year are on pace to exceed that number by 18%--suggesting that currently extended wait times could continue to increase.[2]

These processing delays and subsequent influx of requests to Congressional offices cause added stress for our constituents around long-planned travel and sometimes require them to pay additional money for expedited processing and/or overnight shipping fees they otherwise would not have pursued. Meanwhile, Congressional offices are having to dedicate additional time and resources that could be devoted to other constituent service demands.

We understand that passport processing challenges have coincided with the beta-test rollout of the Online Passport Renewal (OPR) system. We applaud the State Department’s efforts to streamline and improve response timing for our constituents seeking to renew their passports online, but questions remain regarding how the OPR system has been implemented, how this system was communicated to our constituents, and the level of oversight it has received from the State Department.

Finally, we ask that the State Department improve its internal communications among passport agencies, as well as external communications to Congressional offices, and most importantly, to our constituents, about efficiently navigating passport processing challenges. Moreover, our constituents deserve clearer communication about current estimated turnaround times, both at the application stage and while their application is in process, if their estimated receipt time changes. In addition, our Congressional offices and our constituents need to receive the same information and guidance about what services are and are not available. Congressional offices are repeatedly experiencing instances where our constituents report that State’s Passport Offices gave constituents expectations of our Congressional Offices’ ability to assist them that conflicted with the guidance that State has provided to our Offices, such as the timelines we must follow in order to submit appointment requests.

To help Congress understand the current passport delays, please provide answers to the following questions:

1. How many new passport applications has the State Department received since January 1, 2023?

2. How many passport renewal applications has the State Department received since January 1, 2023?

3. How many new passport applications has the State Department processed since January 1, 2023?

4. How many passport renewals has the State Department processed since January 1, 2023?

5. How many new passport applications are currently in the State Department’s queue to be processed?

6. How many passport renewal applications are currently in the State Department’s queue to be processed?

7. How is passport application workload distributed/assigned to different passport offices around the country?

8.  How does State address errors made in its passport processing? For instance, when application materials are lost, constituents receive the wrong passport, or there are delays or lack of clarity in notifying applicants of errors in their applications?

9.  How does State address instances in which it is unable to meet its predicted timeline to applicants, which may necessitate them to pay additional overnight shipping charges?

a. Would State consider issuing refunds to applicants who paid for expedited shipping but did not receive their passport within the promised timeline?

10.  Has State created a process for assisting applicants if it loses the applicant’s identifying documentation (birth certificates, naturalization certificates etc)? If not, why?

11.     How was the option to opt-in to OPR presented to applicants?

a. Was it made clear that the system was in Beta-testing?

b. Were the potential risks of opting-in to OPR, such as longer processing times, errors, or lack of access to human assistance,  made clear to applicants?

12.  Our office has heard reports of OPR-related delays dating back to November, 2022.

b. Does State have a procedure for manual human intervention in instances where errors with the automated OPR system resulted in longer processing times? If not, why?

c. Does State believe the OPR system would benefit from a manual intervention process in the case of persistent delays? If not, why? If so, has one been implemented? If not, why?

13.  What are the metrics State is using to evaluate the performance of OPR? How is OPR performing on those metrics?

14.  How does State currently view the future of OPR?

15.  How has State decided what information to share with the general public about the passport delays?

16.  Has State identified problems with how different Passport Offices share information about the status of an applicant’s passport?

a. If so, what is State’s plan to improve coordination between Offices?

17.  How has State developed its messaging to the public about what Congressional Offices can provide to their constituents in terms of passport services?

18.  How is State prioritizing the scheduling of limited counter appointments at passport agencies across the country, including for life-or-death emergencies and Congressional requests?

a. Do you have a plan to increase the number of available in-person appointments at Passport Offices in the future?

19: Please provide a timeline for the return of processing times to levels seen before the current spike in passport demand.

We are grateful for your attention to these issues on behalf of our constituents. 

Original source can be found here.