Smooth Travels
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Now that the long, twisting lines have dwindled, and the paper piles are not toppling over, getting a passport for international travel is once again a smooth endeavor.
“It is a night and day difference,” said Carol Becker, vitals office supervisor at the Ramsey County passport office. “It was not good last year.”
University of St. Thomas senior Kyle Rude remembers the agony a group of his friends were going through during this time last year. He said they were preparing for a spring break trip to Mexico and one member didn’t receive a passport in time and was unable to attend.
Rude is planning a trip to Europe in May and applied for his passport in January to be sure that didn’t happen to him.
“I walked in and 10 minutes later was done… it was painless compared to other DMV processes,” he said. The office told him to expect his passport in the mail in nine to 12 weeks; two and a half weeks later it arrived.
“The public has been educated now and they are planning better than before,” Becker said.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was implemented in January 2007. The initiative required all persons traveling by air outside of the U.S. to present a passport or other valid document to enter or re-enter the United States. It resulted in a passport backlog, followed by revised requirements and in September the initiative was re-implemented. To see current travel requirements and security updates check the State Department Web site .
According to Becker, a year ago the federal government advertised the new regulations but the public didn’t take notice. At first, passport processing ran smoothly and it took the usual six to eight weeks for customers to receive their passport. But, within weeks the time frame changed.
“There were a lot of angry people that thought they would receive their passport in six to eight weeks and were worried they wouldn’t make their trips,” Becker said. “The local offices took on being the front line for the federal offices and passport customers.”
The government did respond by hiring additional staff, Becker said, but it took time to train them and get caught-up in the processing.
“It was the worst I have seen,” Becker said. “What we experienced was the latest wrinkle, the passport industry will always be changing because of outside events, security borders and national events; it’s hard to anticipate.”
Now, things are back to normal and more post offices have begun providing passport paperwork, too. To find a passport location near you, click here. In February, Sen. Norm Coleman’s office announced that the U.S. State Department plans to open a passport processing office in the Twin Cities area; currently passport paperwork is sent to Seattle for processing.
According to Coleman’s Web site, his office alone helped more than 3,000 constituents whose honeymoons, vacations or business trips were in jeopardy due to passport delays.