U.S. passport delays may be four months long — and could get worse. Here's what to know

cnbc.com:

Americans traveling abroad may need to wait more than four months for a new passport — and delays are likely to worsen as the busy summer travel season approaches.

That means international travelers should act soon if they're planning a trip later this year or in 2024, travel experts said.

«The only way you can really deal with this is to get ahead of the problem,» said Charles Leocha, chairman of Travelers United, a nonprofit advocacy group.

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The passport backlog has grown in recent months as Americans unleash pent-up wanderlust and take trips abroad that they couldn't earlier in the pandemic. The U.S. State Department must also re-staff positions that were reassigned or eliminated as passport demand cratered in 2020.

Passport demand has been «unprecedented,» Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Congress in March.

Weekly applications have been about 30% to 40% above last year, he said. While demand is typically seasonal, with the busy season running from March to late summer, «basically it's full time now,» he added.

The Department received 500,000 applications during some weeks over the winter — a record for that time of year and exceeding the State Department's official projections.

As of March 24, travelers waited 10 to 13 weeks for a routine passport application, the State Department said. (A traditional passport — a passport book — costs $130 to renew; there's an additional $35 acceptance fee for first-time applicants.) Even an expedited application, which costs an extra $60 plus delivery fees, still takes seven to 9 weeks.

For those who apply