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![handle is hein.crs/goverig0001 and id is 1 raw text is:
Congressional Research Sc*rvic
informing the legislative debate since 914
0
Updated November 19, 2024
State Department Passport Services: Background and Issues
for Congress
Background
The U.S. Department of State (DOS) defines a passport as
an internationally recognized travel document that verifies
the identity and nationality of the bearer. Congress has
vested authority in DOS to grant, issue, and verify U.S.
passports. DOS data indicate that the number of passports it
issues on an annual basis has increased substantially since
the mid-1990s. DOS's Bureau of Consular Affairs (CA)
issued over 5.5 million passports in FY1996, and this figure
more than doubled by FY2006, reaching over 12 million. In
FY2024, CA issued 24.5 million passports, which exceeds
the number of passports issued in FY2023 by nearly
500,000 and marks a new annual record (see Figure 1).
Figure I. U.S. Passports Issued, FY2019-FY2024
FY2019 20,U0,491
F20120 11,7511,94
FY202 2 21995'- 7 60
FY223 4,021,257
F2024 )24,515,786
Source: State Department, Bureau of Consular Affairs Reports and
Statistics, https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/about-us/reports-
and-statistics.html.
Passport Applicaton Adjudication and
Processing Steps
Current DOS regulations require first-time applicants for a
U.S. passport, along with most applicants under age 18
seeking to renew their passport, to submit their application
in person at a passport acceptance facility. There are over
7,400 passport acceptance facilities across the United
States. They include post offices, clerks of court, public
libraries, and other local government offices. DOS advises
those intending to travel in less than three weeks to make an
appointment at a passport agency or center (described in the
following paragraph) rather than visit a passport acceptance
facility. Those applicants seeking to renew their passport
are often eligible to do so online or through the mail.
Department of the Treasury-administered payment
processing centers (often referred to as lockbox facilities
or lockboxes) are responsible for opening and sorting
passport application packages, processing passport
application fees, entering relevant application data into
DOS servers, and transmitting application packages to
passport agencies and centers for adjudication. CA
currently administers 29 passport agencies and centers
across the United States and has announced plans to open
six additional agencies (for more detail, see the Passport
Services in 2023 and 2024: From Processing Delays to
Service Improvements heading). Once a passport
application is approved, information is electronically
transmitted to a print center where the passport is printed.
CA maintains two such facilities, located in Hot Springs,
AR, and Tucson, AZ. After printing, the passport is mailed
to the applicant. In addition to adjudicating applications
transmitted from lockboxes, many passport agencies and
centers offer in-person passport services by appointment to
those who require a passport quickly for urgent
international travel needs.
While the aforementioned procedures generally apply to
U.S. citizens in the United States, U.S. embassies and other
overseas posts offer passport services to U.S. citizens
abroad. Specific procedures vary by post. In most cases,
U.S. citizens must apply for all passport services in person
at the relevant embassy or consulate. Similar to passport
agencies and centers in the United States, overseas posts
offer appointments to U.S. citizens who require a passport
for immediate international travel.
Passport Services in 2023 and 2024:
From Processing Delays to Service
Improvements
U.S. citizens applying for a passport faced delays
throughout much of 2023, as processing times for routine
applications increased from 6-9 weeks in January 2023 to
10-13 weeks by March. During a congressional hearing in
June 2023, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs
Rena Bitter attributed several factors to longer processing
times. These factors included attrition within CA's passport
adjudication workforce following the onset of the COVID-
19 pandemic and continued in-person work requirements,
along with pent-up demand for passports among the
American public after COVID-19-related international
travel restrictions were relaxed. In December 2023, DOS
announced that it had successfully met its goal of returning
processing times to pre-pandemic levels, which were (as of
December 2019) 6-8 weeks for routine applications and 2-3
weeks for expedited applications.
As the 2023 processing delays have receded, DOS has
advanced several policies in 2024 intended to improve
passport services. In some cases, congressional action has
contributed to DOS's work in this area. Section 6104 of the
Department of State Authorization Act of 2023 (Division F
of P.L. 118-31) required the Secretary of State to submit a
strategy to Congress describing how DOS could provide
[U.S.] residents living in a significant population center
more than a 5-hour drive from a passport agency with
urgent, in-person passport services, including the possibility
of building new passport agencies. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken submitted this strategy to Congress on June](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/goverig0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)