Passport wait times drop to shortest since March 2020: Here's how long processing could take

If you need a new passport, you’re in luck. U.S. passport processing times dropped again this week to their shortest since before the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Department said.

Travelers who apply on or after Monday can expect to wait between six and eight weeks for routine service, down from seven to 10 weeks. Expedited processing will take between two and three weeks, dropping from between three and five weeks (the service also comes with a $60 fee). Those estimates do not include mailing times.

“With this update, we have fulfilled our commitment to return to benchmarks from March 2020,” the State Department said in a news release. “This reflects the work of dedicated employees working for the American people.”

Processing times ballooned during the pandemic, with some travelers facing wait times as long as four months. But the government has worked to bring those down.

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The State Department said in November that it was “aggressively recruiting and hiring across our passport agencies and centers” to meet demand and staff were putting in tens of thousands of hours of overtime monthly, among other steps. More than 24 million passport books and cards were issued in the U.S. between October 2022 and September 2023, marking an all-time high.

The changes come just over a month after processing times last dropped, following a previous decrease in October.

Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.