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Passports in a week? They're part of the past

You can still pay to expedite your passport. But it will take three weeks.

WASHINGTON - For people seeking U.S. passports, the pricier "expedited" processing is officially not as expedited anymore.

The State Department said Thursday that it has changed the definition of "expedited passport processing," for which travelers pay an extra $60, from one week to a more accordion-like standard because of the summer's backlog in applications.

Now, people can expect to wait about three weeks for expedited service - though that's not much different than the two to three weeks applicants have waited for much of the summer after paying the expedited fee.

A regular application now takes 10 to 12 weeks.

The State Department announced the change a day after officials offered a new estimate of the burgeoning cost of processing the mountain of passport applications. It will cost nearly $1-billion over three years to handle the surge in applications created by post-9/11 security rules for travel.

Officials said they can no longer guarantee that an expedited application will be processed within three business days of receipt.

Instead, that processing time is 10 business days. Factoring in shipping time, expedited service usually takes about three weeks.

Critics saw the announcement as fresh evidence of mismanagement.

"I can't believe they're proposing a rule where they want to charge you the same amount and in return you're virtually guaranteed to get worse service," said Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the agency changed its rules "to ensure that the department can continue to offer this expedited service consistent with its regulations despite increases in demand for expedited passport processing."

Asked if a longer wait was still worth the same $60 fee, McCormack joked: "I'll ask people. Maybe we could have, like, sort of first class and business class and economy class."

Officials renewed their pledge to clear up the overall passport backlog by September.

The surge in demand stems from rules that took effect in January requiring U.S. travelers to carry passports when flying to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. A similar requirement is to go into effect for all land and sea crossings next year.

Last year, the agency processed 12.1-million passports. Through the next four years, officials expect to process almost 100-million passports.

Fast Facts:

On the Web

Travelers paying an extra $60 for speedy processing of passport applications should check the Web - travel.state.gov - to see how long they will have to wait, the State Department said. (For routine processing, the fee is $97 for people 16 and older and $82 for those under 16.)

[Last modified August 17, 2007, 00:36:18]