Why does it take so long to get a passport?

My nephew applied for a passport 13 weeks ago. They (the post office in the small town in Wisconsin) told him that it would take 10 weeks maximum. Also - the government website states that it will take a maximum of 10 weeks to get a passport. He wanted to pay for the two week "express passport" - but the P.O. advised him not to do that and assured him he'd have the passport in time for his trip which was 13 weeks away.

After 10 weeks - the passport hadn't come. He called (and waited on hold for hours each time - not an exaggeration) and was given the run around. Finally they told him he could go to Chicago 3 days - before his trip to get the passport made. He called again when it was three days away to confirm that info - and was told there were no appointments until June 17th (two weeks after he needed to leave). He had to change the ticket. It cost him $100.00 - and a bunch of time and effort.

What's up with this branch of the government that they can't get things done?

The government adopted new rules which vastly increased the demand for passports, without increasing the infrastructure necessary to provide them. In more normal times, two or three weeks was plenty.

Another good reason why we want the government in charge of as little as possible. everything is slow, wasteful, and redundant, confusing and frustrating.

All passports come from a single government office and there are multiple layers of verification of a person's ID, their status and all the additional security checks that now have to be done because of new anti-terrorism laws, etc...
The rule of thumb is if you need a passport, apply for one early! The process has never been fast.

Listen up people!! They will TELL you there are no appointments available. Appointments are for people traveling in the next 14 days. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE AN APPOINTMENT IF YOU ARE TRAVELING WITHIN 48 HOURS.

Know from experience, had a lovely 9 hour drive to New Orleans last week. Another note, there is no maximum amount on time. Its an estimate and there is nothing you can do to hold them to it.

Good Luck!

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