CHARLOTTE — Some are calling it a crisis or at least a crunch — how difficult it can be to get a passport appointment and then the passport itself.
Passport officials say it takes 10-13 weeks to get a passport. You can pay $60 for an expedited one, but that could still take 7-9 weeks.
Rosa Villarreal says she spent months trying to get a passport appointment, so she finally gave up and went in person only to find out the offices don’t take walk-ins.
She went back to the drawing board or more accurately, the web.
“A month. It took me a month to get an appointment,” she said.
Villarreal told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke she has a trip planned for August. “I am praying I don’t have to cancel my trip because I will be really upset,” she said.
“It’s getting a little bit ugly,” said David Alwadish, owner of ItsEasy.com.
He suggests three ways to land a last-minute passport.
“If you’re in trouble, call your congressman or senator. But they’re overwhelmed. Try to get an appointment (with a passport agency or center at 877-487-2778) and/or call a company like mine,” he said.
Alwadish says the government gives companies like his special access to passport appointments, mainly to help people who can’t get there easily (for example, because of their work schedules). But he says he can use the time slots for anyone in a tight spot. However, it’ll cost you $395 to $995, depending on how quickly you need it.
Considering the current situation, make sure you know when your passport is set to expire (even if it’s still years down the road) so you can get a new one well before crunch time.
(VIDEO: Charlotte Douglas Airport takes top 10 spot on busiest airports list)
©2023 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/LH3JSJEF3VBLRJLJQESEAG34AM.png)
