Important Information about your passports!
If you are traveling this summer, you NEED to know that passports are taking longer to get back to you. It normally takes in the 8 week range to receive your passport back, and about half the time if you choose to expedite it (and extra cost). However, the passport office has recently stated that a HUGE influx of both new passport applications and renewals due to travel demand has caused a drastic increase to the amount of time processing is taking. There are reports of people who have waited up to 16 weeks to receive their passports back (regular process time), and up to 8 weeks for expedited passport applications.
What does this mean for you?
It means that if you had put off getting your passport and have travel planned and booked for this summer, you NEED to get that in ASAP as well as pay to expedite your passport. Otherwise, you may be looking at having to move your trip to another date, or cancel…and nobody wants that. I promise, we know how badly you need that vacation!
An important note!
There is something that a LOT of people don’t know about passport validity and traveling to other countries. It’s not just about having a passport that is good through your stay. MOST countries require your passport to be valid at least 6 months PAST your travel dates. Make sure to check the specific rules of the country you are going to. You may be tempted to just give it a try and attempt to board the plane in hopes no one will notice, but you will be denied boarding at your originating destination if your passport does not meet the required validity dates for the country (or countries) you are traveling to. And we don’t want that, either!