Here we are again with a passport update! The latest stats are out and I was disappointed to see the updated numbers at first – until I realized about the July 4th holiday. I am assuming that, not only were they off Friday, some may have taken a holiday/vacation day for Monday as well. So, here it goes!
US Passport Processing Update
As a reminder, 4 facilities have moved into Phase Two which means more employees working to get those passports processed. It also means we should see well over 1/4 million passports processed in the next week.
| Week (Thursday-Wednesday) | Applications Received | Passports Awaiting Issuance | Passports Issued |
|---|---|---|---|
| This Week (July 2-8) | 112,000 | 1.43 million | 188,000 |
| Last Week (June 25-July 1) | 133,000 | 1.51 million | 236,000 |
| 2 Weeks Ago (June 18-24) | 134,000 | 1.61 million | 187,000 |
So, there was a drop to just about the numbers from two weeks ago. Not terrible, especially since they were closed for one work day. Also, they have managed to get the backlog under 1.5 million for the first time in months so, great job!
At the rate they are going, it should not be too many more weeks before they can work this backlog down and catch up to the passport applications being received. Remember, it is first in/first out for processing.
Actually the operational reduction to the backlog is worse for this period than the remaining backlog number suggests. Not only was there a substantial decline in the receipt of new applications during the most recent reporting period — in part due to the 4th of July holiday observation — but the rate of eating away into the backlog on open days was also worse in the most recent reporting period than was the case in the prior couple of weeks.
The rate recent week was 47000 per day, while Previous week 47200.
Slight changes can be there because this number is sum of passport books and cards, and the ratio can change week to week.
Hope they take it to 60000 per day, with more offices opening and also moving to phase 2