Many lockdown-weary Americans have been planning trips months – and, in some cases, years – in the making.

Some have had set their sights on far-flung locales – a change of scenery after enduring more than a year of travel restrictions caused by COVID-19. Others hoped to visit family or friends living in countries that had closed their borders to outside travelers.

But some of those plans could be spoiled due to massive passport delays at the U.S. State Department, where millions of applications remain in limbo. 

What You Need To Know

  • The State Department is facing a backlog of roughly two million passport applications, upending travel plans for Americans left in limbo waiting for new passports and renewals

  • Currently, passport requests or renewals can take up to 18 weeks, while expedited service is roughly around 12 weeks, the State Department said, much longer than normal

  • One State Department official blamed the delay on the COVID-19 pandemic

  • On Thursday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced the Passport Backlog Elimination Act, which seeks to fill staffing shortages in the State Department in order to reduce passport processing time

The State Department told Spectrum News that currently passport applications could take as long as five months to process, which one department official blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic. Even those who planned ahead find themselves stymied by the dramatic backlog.

One such would-be traveler, Arelis Grundstrom, told Spectrum News that she submitted her passport renewal paperwork in April – months ahead of her planned trip to Ghana in September to visit a group of children she cares for.

“I’m so excited to bring them clothing, some toys and they told me ‘don’t tell me you’re not going to come’ so they’re expecting me,” she told Spectrum News.

Gundstrom says she inquired about her renewal status in May, one month after her initial application was submitted, and was told it was being processed.

Since then, however, she’s heard nothing; the process is full of “long waits,” Grundstrom said. “It’s like the phone is always busy, you can never get ahold of anybody.”

Currently, State Department officials said routine passport requests have been taking up to 18 weeks to process – much longer than is typical for the department – while expedited services are taking roughly 12 weeks.

Lawmakers said they have gotten an earful from angry constituents.

In North Carolina Rep. Ted Budd’s office, calls from frustrated travelers are up by 500% compared to two years ago. Staffers for fellow North Carolina Rep. Kathy Manning  say they have also been swamped.

“We have to get more people back to work who are handling the passports, but I’ve also asked are there any other ways that we can facilitate this process in working more quickly, are there creative solutions we can come up with," Manning said. "We’ve got to solve this passport problem."

On Thursday, a bipartisan group of House members reintroduced legislation they hope will help curb the massive backlog of applications.

The Passport Backlog Elimination Act, introduced by Reps. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., would seek to fill staffing shortages at the State Department, and would require the Secretary of State to submit a plan that would ensure passport processing time falls between six to eight weeks.

In the meantime, the Bureau of Consular Affairs said it is hiring more contractors, and offering overtime, to process the backlog. By mid-August, the agency says it expects to be 97% staffed.

Grundstrom, for her part, hopes that is true; Otherwise, she fears she may have run out of time.

"I’m doing everything I can but I don’t know what to do anymore," she said.