“I wanted to do this as a service to my district and as a means of reaching out to constituents, because it has been a number one issue in my office from constituents for at least the last year or more,” Gomez said. There is now a wait list with over 100 people hoping to participate in the next fair, which Gomez plans to organize in September. The July 23 event, held at the Eagle Rock post office, had about 210 slots, and helped over 250 people with their passport needs. Postal Service, which offered assistance in Korean, Spanish and English.Īt the April fair, 120 appointment slots were available, and a total of 209 passport applications were filed. The events were staffed by representatives from Gomez’s office and the U.S. The passport fairs, held over a four-hour period, provided people with passport renewal and new application services. Gomez’s staff has helped more than 400 people receive passports, both through the office and at two passport fairs, one in April and one in July. Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles) has handled more than 250 passport cases since June. Congressional reps are trying to help with the passport backlogĬongressional staff are also scrambling to help their constituents receive their passports on time. The plan is to reintroduce the system by the end of the year, providing the public with a more efficient and convenient option for renewing passports online. This pilot version processed around 500,000 applications before being temporarily taken down for system enhancements in March 2023. The system offered applicants a user-friendly portal to create profiles, upload documents and photos, make payments and renew their passports without the need for paper submissions. Rodriguez said that the key to improvement long-term is modernizing the system, rather than relying on increased overtime, which is why the State Department piloted an online passport renewal system in February 2022. Many people whose passports had expired applied for renewals, and a considerable number of people who had never obtained a passport before also applied for the first time. As restrictions eased and travel resumed, applications surged. Why is there a passport backlog?Īndres Rodriguez, lead community relations officer for passport services at the State Department, said the passport backlog is a result of the pandemic’s effect on travel.ĭuring the pandemic, the usual number of expiring passport renewals and new applications significantly decreased because of travel restrictions. And it wasn’t until four days before their trip that they learned about a potentially risky way around the backlog. It wasn’t until they saw posts on local Facebook groups that they realized there was a national passport appointment backlog. State Department, which issues and renews passports, but couldn’t get through to anyone. They started making daily calls to the U.S. But one week before the trip, their son’s passport still hadn’t arrived. They’d booked their flights and accommodations in April and gotten a passport appointment in May, paying for expedited service. A Bay Area family of six had everything arranged for their trip to France at the end of June - except a passport renewal for one of their sons.
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