HOUSTON – United States Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee visited Houston’s passport office on Monday to address the current backup of U.S. passport applications.
The problem, which happens to be worldwide, is being blamed on the pandemic, staffing shortages, and a pause in online processing this year. The passport agency says all of those issues have left them flooded with a record-busting 500,000 applications a week. The deluge is on track to top last year’s 22 million passports issued, the State Department says.
To help ease the issue a bit, Lee has asked the State Department to provide the Houston office with more staff to help make this process more efficient.
President Joe Biden has also said he is committed to getting more resources.
Lee said the passport office is working hard and staying open seven days a week.
On July 15, there will be a festival held at the Mickey Leland Federal Building located at 1919 Smith Street to help people make passport appointments and answer questions. State Department officials are planning to visit the Houston office for a week to assist the local office and possibly hold more festivals at libraries and post offices.
Lee reminded Houstonians to have all of their documents ready during their passport appointments and said that even small babies need passports to travel.
Officials warned there could be high passport demand through July and August since it is vacation season.