The US State Department just entered Phase Two of their three phase plan to restart the issuance of passports around the US. This means that they will be able to process the backlog of passports even faster and it could mean that Phase Three for some agencies is not far away.
Some US Passport Agencies Enter Phase Two
Here is a graphic from the US State Department outlining what the three phases of passport services will look like.
As you can see, Phase Two is largely an expansion of the processing of passports for Phase One. The passport agencies have been gradually ramping up the processing of the backlog of passports, reaching almost 1/4 million passports processed just last week! But, it does mean that these four agencies below (which have already been opened) will begin to have more staff return. This means faster processing time.
Also, Phase Two no longer lists that it is better to wait to submit, meaning that the turnaround time should not be very unlike what it would typically be in the summer months.
Here are the four agencies that have have entered Phase Two as of yesterday (July 6). Note that this does not mean you can make an appointment for a non-emergency situation just yet!
From the US State Departmen
You will notice that these agencies are all in the Northeast so if you are someone with a life-and-death emergency, one of these agencies are now available for you.
Good to know. My wife’s passport expires in a bit over a year and a lot of countries won’t let you in without a six month validity remaining, so it’d be nice to renew while there’s no travel planned. Any word on Global Entry resuming? Even with the extension, mine is approaching expiration.
Our company expedites passports and visas so we work directly with the US Department of State and the Passport Agencies. We are excited and encouraged to see the processing volume increase. Applying early is still recommended as processing times are first come, first serve. We hope to see travel opening up as some countries and states continue to show signs of improvement.
Charlie,
Do you know if some of the backlog will be send to those agencies to process or if you apply the the southwest, you have to wait for southwest processing center to process your application?
Greatly appreciate you keeping us up to date.
Hi, Jose! From what I understand, on the whole, the passports are being dealt with on a first in/first out basis. That is regardless of which agency received them. This is likely due to the fact that someone has been sorting these in the first place since checks had been cashed so they must have been sent to a general facility to be stored securely until they could start being processed.
Thank you again!!