Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Sunday urged the U.S. State Department to bring in emergency personnel to clear the passport backlog caused by high numbers of vaccinated Americans wanting to travel. Even if someone pays the expedited fee, the State Department said on Wednesday that the wait time for a passport or visa is between 3 to 4 and a half months.
“Unfortunately, we have a real problem. And that is that the State Department has been so backlogged because of COVID. People didn’t apply for any visas and any passports while COVID happened, and now there’s a deluge and they don’t have the personnel to do it,” said Schumer during a Sunday press conference from New York.
