Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?
This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.
Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Why is the US passport application process still so ludicrously, unacceptably, insanely backlogged?
Some friends are considering an international trip during the holiday season so I took a look at how to get a passport. The wait time for non-expedited processing is three months. Paying an extra $60 for expedited processing takes this down to two months if you're lucky. The state department is still blaming covid (which I can understand on some levels; there's more demand now that international travel is allowed to happen again) but this has been a problem for a year now.
Nobody seems to know the specifics as to why this is happening beyond "record numbers of applicants". Asking about this without qualifiers on reddit is liable to get you labelled pro-trump. I'm seeing comments that just a decade ago the process only took a few weeks at most.
I've been meaning to get one for a couple years now simply to have a backup form of ID but never had a compelling reason to apply until this potential trip entered the equation. It looks like it's already too late for me to get one in time. Guess I'll try again in a couple years.
On top of all that, the postal service's online appointment scheduler is either broken or incompatible with both Firefox and iOS safari.
I actually can believe the "record number of applicants" excuse. When I applied for a passport back in 2019 it was easy to schedule an appointment for the application at our city's post office. In 2022 and earlier this year I tried applying for another passport and there were no appointment spots available at all: they were all fully booked for as far out as they allowed you to book them. I had to search through post offices in neighboring towns before I found one available within a week, and that was in a town 40 minutes away.
The speed at which passports are being processed shouldn't necessarily have any impact on the amount of appointments available. It's possible that the post offices in my area reduced the number of available appointment slots, but it didn't seem like they did. Maybe it's as simple as there being a regular number of passports that Americans apply for each year and COVID made people skip a year or two and we're still sorting out the pent up demand?
More options
Context Copy link
The excuse I heard when I was trying to get my passport renewed earlier this year was that US Customs and Border Security funding was in a perpetual state of tug-of-war over culture war immigration issues, and that the agency has been deliberately short-staffing the departments that nice, middle-class professionals rely on in order to place constituent pressure on Congress for budget increases (same way whenever National Park Service funding is impacted by debt ceiling negotiations or whatever, the first thing they do is rope off popular monuments on the National Mall as a passive-aggressive protest)
More options
Context Copy link
That's insane. By law in my country the passport has to be expedited within 30 days for EUR 33, there is an option to pay EUR 100 and get it in two days. I recently renewed my passport (post COVID), it was very quick with SMS notification when and where to pick it up. All my interaction was basically with people behind plexiglass, COVID is just a stupid excuse.
More options
Context Copy link
3 months? Thats bad? US Tourist Visas are back logged literal years, lol.
I've scrapped a trip to the US with friends because of this. God only knows will we ever get our youth back. Thanks China virus.
More options
Context Copy link
Why not just get one now and then you won't have to worry about it in a couple years? Regardless of the current length of time, it's only really a problem if you suddenly decide to travel when you had no inclination to previously. They last 10 years, it's not like you need to min-max the duration.
I probably will once I find a browser that USPS.com tolerates and/or they fix their website (uBlock is not the culprit, I already checked). But I'm fed up enough that I need to take a break from trying. Might try county services instead since they're actually closer to me than my post office and it appears that they can handle them.
Lately I've noticed that some websites like Delta, US Census, and Archive.org are IP blocking me because I visit them with Firefox with anti-fingerprinting turned on. I have to turn on my VPN and then try again with Chrome. Annoying.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
Because democrats want to incentivize illegal immigration, for some reason.
The real answer is that immigration is one of the hottest CW issues and has been for decades, so nothing gets done and the byzantine system that grew out of bureaucracy is entrenched as hell.
A delay in issuing passports would incentivize illegal emigration rather than immigration, would it not? The US government does not issue passports to aliens seeking to enter the country.
More options
Context Copy link
I wouldn't think any of the CW elements would extend to passport issues for existing US citizens with all of their documents and no criminal records but I guess I'm just wishfully naive. Has anybody tried campaigning on this particular issue? (I don't really keep up with mainstream politics obviously.) This is clearly causing serious problems for people that need to travel internationally for reasons other than vacationing.
Oh I totally misread the question OOPS!
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link