The Department of State is committed to providing the best possible service for our passport customers.
We encourage all Americans to:
- check their passport expiration date before making plans for international travel, and
- renew their passport well in advance of international travel.
Current Processing Times: Processing times have returned to our pre-pandemic norm. As of December 18, 2023, passport applications will be processed within 6-8 weeks for routine service and 2-3 weeks for expedited service, which costs an additional $60. With this update, we have fulfilled our commitment to return to benchmarks from March 2020.
Processing times begin when we receive your application at a passport agency or center, and do not include mailing times. It may take up to 2 weeks for us to receive your application after you mail it to us, and up to 2 weeks for you to receive your completed passport after we mail it to you.
High Demand: In 1990, only five percent of Americans had a passport. Today, that number is 48 percent. More Americans can travel abroad now than at any time in our history. There are now over 160 million valid U.S. passports in circulation (nearly double the amount from 2007).
This past year, the Department experienced unprecedented demand for passports. Between October 2022 and September 2023 (the federal fiscal year), the Department of State issued over 24 million passport books and cards – the highest amount ever in our nation’s history.
Plans to Address Workload: We are aggressively recruiting and hiring across our passport agencies and centers. Our passport team members nationwide are working overtime each month to issue the millions of passports sought by traveling Americans.
Contacting Us: We encourage customers to check the status of their passport application and sign up for updates via email.
Apply Early: We are committed to transparency and will continue to provide regular updates about passport processing times, and to encourage Americans to apply for their passport well in advance of any planned international travel to avoid last-minute issues.