U.S. Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) led five of his New York Republican colleagues in denouncing backlogs in passport services at the New York Passport Agency and requested information from the federal level about what’s being done to fix the problem.
“After almost two years of travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, our constituents are excited to make up for lost time and enjoy the experiences offered by foreign travel,” wrote Rep. Garbarino and the members in a July 13 letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Rena Bitter.
“These completely unacceptable delays have caused our constituents to lose out on the cost of airline fees and vacations, even after some constituents paid an extra fee to expedite their application,” the congressmen wrote.
The lawmakers pointed out that their offices have worked to bridge communication between their constituents and the New York Passport Agency regarding the processing and approval of the passport applications, noting that they had traditionally been able to effectively liaison with the agency and obtain passports within the Bureau of Consular Affairs’ posted time period.
“However, our offices lost contact with the New York Passport Agency over the past three weeks, resulting in a whirlwind of chaos and confusion that has forced constituents to cancel travel plans and lose thousands of dollars in nonrefundable costs,” they wrote. “It was only after numerous complaints that we were able to connect with New York Passport Agency officials, although our backlog still persists.”
Rep. Garbarino and the congressmen wrote that their offices have been forced to make passport appointments for constituents at agencies in other regions of the state for passport applications already outside of processing times.
“Constituents should not have to add an additional expense and travel just to obtain their passport,” they wrote, adding that their constituents also face the extra costs associated with expediting their processing requests.
They requested that the State Department provide them with details about how many employees the New York Passport Agency has dedicated to handling passport requests; how the department plans to address the reported staffing shortages experienced by the New York Passport Agency; and what steps, if any, have been taken by the department to address the backlog in requests at the agency.