MINNEAPOLIS — If you're traveling anytime soon and need a passport, pack your patience. The State Department is being flooded with 500,000 applications a week.
That's one reason why the wait for one is soaring – the official time it's taking to process one is now 13 weeks.
Boston University's Questrom School of Business Economics Professor Jay Zagorsky says the demand is growing in Minnesota, too.
"Back in 2021, 220,000 people applied for passports. In 2022, last year, 310,000 people applied and my estimate for this year? Four hundred thousand people in Minnesota are going to be applying," said Zagorsky.
Government staffing shortages are also leading to that delay after so many temporary employees were laid off during travel restrictions.
"The passport agency has been trying to hire those people back, but with unemployment so low around the country, it's tough to find workers," said Zagorsky. "Give yourself some extra time and be prepared for maybe a disappointment."
Zagorsky waited four months for his passport, missing a vacation last May to London. He said solutions to the problem include allowing people back into the country despite an expired passport.
"If I have an expired passport and I haven’t changed my name or my address, they should allow me back in," said Zagorsky.
He also suggests the ability to keep using a passport while you wait for a renewal – two policies officials have tried before.
He also suggests traveling to the Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, since you don't need a passport. Otherwise, pack your patience because Minnesota ranks 13th in the nation when it comes to the number of passport applications, in part, due to its proximity to Canada.
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