Americans
are itching to travel abroad, but finding a roadblock due to a massive passport
backlog.
Stephanie
Yanez and her husband-to-be Darryl Shine are getting married on July 25. The
Bridgeport couple is then slated to take their honeymoon to Jamaica two days
later.
Yanez
told News 12 that they applied to renew their passports in April, when the wait
time was expected to be 8-10 weeks. But while Yanez has received hers, Shine is
still waiting after three months.
The
State Department says there's a backlog of about 2 million passports, with wait
times stretched to 18 weeks. With countries now opening, there's a surge of
Americans wanting to travel. But the Bureau of Consular Affairs isn't back to
full staffing.
Even
if passport seekers pay an extra fee for expedited service, they still must
wait 12 weeks.
“At
the very time that we see demand higher than we've ever seen it, the ability to
process those has been compromised,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-District 4). “We’re
working really hard. I joined 50 of my colleagues here to write to the State
Department and say this is not acceptable.”
Rep.
Himes says he's heard from many constituents, including Yanez, about what he
calls a "serious problem.” He urged patience.
“People
need to remember – passports are about national security. It's not just filling
out a form and taking a picture.”
Yanez
is hoping for the best as her wedding approaches this weekend.
“We
have no honeymoon if we don't have a passport, and it's sad,” she said.