With international travel back “on” again as the world adjusts to COVID, don’t expect your local congressional representative to help you jump the line, should you need a passport renewed in a jiffy.
“The D.C. passport office, where we channel passport requests for Northern Virginians, has a significant backlog in passport renewals,” U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) said in a recent missive to constituents. “They are not accepting casework requests from congressional offices at this time, which means that my office is not able to request assistance with passport renewals.”
“If you plan to travel internationally, I strongly encourage you to check your family’s passports’ expiration dates and begin the renewal process as early as possible,” Beyer said.
U.S. passports are valid for 10 years for those 16 years or older at issuance, five years for those under 16 when issued. Many countries require passports to be valid for a specified period of time – often six months – after a trip occurs.
With international-travel restrictions easing, more people are traveling. Beyer’s note reports that, at times over the past year, there had been more requests for passport assistance in a single day than the office had handled in a single, pre-COVID year.
