Passport applications are at all-time high
More Americans planned trips abroad this year as their pandemic-era health fears waned and countries largely reopened their borders to visitors. The State Department issued a record 22 million passports in fiscal year 2022. It's on track to break that record again in fiscal year 2023, which ends Sept. 30, a spokesperson said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken testified to Congress in March that the volume of passport applications has been "unprecedented." Applications typically ebb and flow with the seasons, peaking from March to late summer, but "basically it's full time now," Blinken said.that were reassigned or eliminated when passport demand cratered in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.
Americans should review current processing times before making any definite or non-refundable travel plans, a Department spokesperson said.