Need a new or renewed US passport? Get ready to wait
A Bay Area family of six had everything arranged for their trip to France at the end of June — except a passport renewal for one of their sons. They'd booked their flights and accommodations in April and gotten a passport appointment in May, paying for expedited service. But one week before the trip, their son's passport still hadn't arrived.
They started making daily calls to the U.S. State Department, which issues and renews passports, but couldn't get through to anyone.
It wasn't until they saw posts on local Facebook groups that they realized there was a national passport appointment backlog. And it wasn't until four days before their trip that they learned about a potentially risky way around the backlog.
Why is there a passport backlog?
Andres Rodriguez, lead community relations officer for passport services at the State Department, said the passport backlog
