'We have procedures in place for those Americans who must travel at the last minute for emergency, life-or-death situations. even though they applied within the expected processing time? What do you say to people who can't get an appointment at a passport agency within their 5 days of planned travel. This pause allows us to process existing applications submitted through OPR and continue to make improvements to the customer experience.'Ģ. On February 7, we temporarily closed the online renewal service to new customers. Based on feedback and learning from the limited releases, we continue to make improvements to optimize the user experience for renewing passports online. Since that time, over 500,000 customers have successfully applied online. In August 2022, we expanded the audience to include the public, with controlled availability on a monthly basis to allow for training of employees and to test the system. We launched the limited release of OPR in February 2022 for federal government employees and contractors. Delivering on this promise, we began testing a secure online passport renewal (OPR) option. 'We are committed to the President's Executive Order on Transforming Federal Customer Experience and Service Delivery to Rebuild Trust in Government. Is this correct? When will it be back online? Why was it paused and what changes will be made before it's available for use again? and the online renewal system has been put on pause. More from a Department of State spokesperson:ġ.It's come to our attention that people who renewed passports online are now being referred to as 'volunteer' who helped 'test' the system. Leonard also shared a pro-tip for the shortest wait time on the phone: start dialing just before 8 a.m. The good news for Leonard, she got her passport just in time for her trip thanks to her local congresswoman. The Office of Passport Services doesn't call it a backlog, by the way, but 'an elevated level of work.'

'We are projecting that those times are going to get longer,' he said.

But a warning: Passport Services does not expect the situation to improve any time soon.

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