The following announcement is from the
United States Department of State concerning the current
status of the passport application process.
FACT SHEET October 1, 2007
PASSPORT SNAPSHOT
In January 2007, the air phase of the Western Hemisphere
Travel Initiative came into effect. Americans complied in
record-breaking unanticipated numbers, and our delivery
system was unable to guarantee the same level of service we
previously had maintained. In order to process the
extraordinary demand, the State Department temporarily
detailed close to 500 additional employees to the effort and
simultaneously began a robust hiring program. Four hundred
new employees have come on board since last May, and we are
committed to continue to hire staff as needed.
Passport applications are
currently taking between four and six weeks for routine
service, and three weeks for expedited service. Fall is
traditionally our low demand season, so we urge prospective
applicants to apply now. January historically marks the
beginning of our busy season, and demand may cause us to
amend our website to reflect a possibly longer processing
time. Readers are urged to check
http://travel.state.gov
(TSG)
regularly, or apply now if contemplating
international travel.
Should you have additional questions after visiting TSG,
please contact the National Passport Information Center at
1-877-4USA-PPT (1-877-487-2778).
PASSPORT FACTS: WHAT YOU NEED TO TRAVEL
All persons
traveling by
air between the United States and
Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean region are now
required to present one of the following documents to enter
or re-enter the United States:
·
A
valid passport;
·
DHS-issued (SENTRI, NEXUS, FAST); OR
·
A
U.S. Coast Guard Mariner Document.
For U.S. Armed
Forces on active duty, traveling on official orders, no
passport is required.
See
http://travel.state.gov for full details.
Further information on port of entry procedures and
requirements is available www.dhs.gov.
Get Your
Passport NOW!
·
If
planning or even considering international trips, dont wait
apply for a passport NOW!
·
Historically, we receive fewer passport applications during
the fall making it the best time to apply.
·
We
are currently processing routine applications within four to
six weeks.
For the latest
information on obtaining a U.S. passport, we urge you to
regularly visit our web site:
http://travel.state.gov
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