The city of Bordeaux is not only about wine.
19.12.2023 - 02:01 / skift.com / Antony Blinken / Meghna Maharishi
Passport processing times have returned to pre-pandemic levels, the State Department said Monday — it now takes just six to eight weeks for a passport, or two to three weeks for an expedited one.
Processing times for passports reached 18 weeks in 2021 when the State Department faced unprecedented demand. This October, processing times were reduced to eight to 11 weeks.
“With this update, we have fulfilled our commitment to return to benchmarks from March 2020,” the State Department said.
In March, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the department was receiving as many as 500,000 passport applications a week, according to CBS News. Blinken said at the time that the State Department was working to hire more staffers and dedicate more resources to passport and visa processing after budget cuts during the peak of the pandemic.
The lengthy passport processing delays prompted lawmakers in Washington to propose legislation to streamline the passport application process and reduce the backlog.
The return of pre-pandemic processing times comes as Americans are traveling abroad in droves. Over 46 million Americans traveled abroad in the first six months of 2023, a 32% increase from the same period in 2022, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office.
The State Department said it issued 24 million passports between October 2022 and September 2023, a new record.
In the past 30 years, the number of Americans holding passports has also skyrocketed. The State Department said only around 5% of Americans had passports in 1990, but as of 2023, that percentage reached 48%. There are around 160 million passports in circulation, double the number from 2007.
The city of Bordeaux is not only about wine.
Tiny, tropical Belize is where Latin-flavored Central America meets the captivating culture of the Caribbean, but it pays to think about when to go.
Havana's cultural calendar is full of visit-worthy events every month, with the more prestigious festivals taking place between October and April.
Travelers, rejoice! Getting your U.S. passport renewed now takes less time that at any point since the Covid-19 pandemic darkened the globe.
Central Pattana plc, Thailand’s number one real estate developer and operator of 39 Central shopping centers nationwide, in collaboration with leading public and private partners including the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Royal Thai Police and Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association (RSTA), etc., created a sensational world-class countdown event, reinforcing its reputation as the No.1 world’s entertainment countdown, for more than two decades with a historic moment as hundreds of thousands united to countdown to 2024.
Want to know what’s on the minds of Americans and others around the world? Just study what they’re watching. Netflix recently released its first ever biannual viewing report which gives insights into what people across the globe are craving on their screens.
The United Kingdom's Border Force is gearing up to trial "smart" eGates equipped with advanced facial recognition technology at airports, which could eliminate the need for passengers to present their passports upon arrival. (Border Force is the part of the Home Office responsible for securing the U.K. border.)
Moving abroad has been a hot topic in 2023 - especially if you can get paid to do it.
Passports could become a thing of the past for those arriving in the UK under new Home Office plans to create ‘frictionless travel’ at Britain’s borders. New hi-tech e-gates will be fitted at airports which will be so advanced they will allow arrivals into the country using only advanced facial recognition.
Citizens of European Union members Romania and Bulgaria will no longer need a passport from March 31, 2024 to travel by air or sea to most other EU countries as well as Norway and Switzerland, the council of EU governments said on Saturday.
Times Square in New York City and Sydney Harbour are justly famous for their New Years Eve celebrations. But for those who don’t cherish the prospect of being elbow-to-elbow with a million other revelers, here are eight alternative (and very cool) places to ring in the new year.
While the annual Times Square ball drop draws hordes of tourists each year, locals will be the first to tell you that the event can be a little overwhelming. Massive queues, frigid temperatures and a lack of easily-accessible bathrooms are just a few factors that could take the night from magical to maddening—but fortunately, visitors are able immerse themselves in the splendor of Manhattan on New Year’s Eve without having to stand shivering in a crowd all night with a stay at one of the neighborhood’s most charming hotels.