With long passport and visa processing delays affecting U.S. travelers, people are going to great lengths to ensure they have their passports in time for their travels.
One woman’s boyfriend purchased two flights to get his passport one day before leaving for an Italian getaway with his girlfriend’s family.
According to the U.S. Department of State, the processing time for a passport is 10 to 13 weeks—or seven to nine weeks with an additional $60 fee.
The government advises travelers to consider the total time it will take to receive their passports when booking travel plans. Doing so could be the difference between losing out on a dream vacation and money.
TikTok user Carissa (@carissapars) documented her boyfriend’s race against the clock in a viral video. (The Daily Dot reached out to Carissa via TikTok comment.)
As she dropped her boyfriend off at the airport, the text overlay shed light on their frantic situation.
@carissapars yall we need some prayers. #travel #italy ♬ Summer Background Jazz – Jazz Background Vibes
“Dropping off my boyfriend to the airport so he can fly to Atlanta to get his passport at the passport agency @8am tmr that he applied for in March but had not received it yet,” the text overlay read.
“We leave for Italy tomorrow at 7:40pm, just to catch a flight from ATL to TPA @1pm tomorrow and get on our international 12 hour flight to have a European summer with my family.”
Since the situation was looking grim, Carissa asked for prayers in the caption of her viral video, which by Tuesday had been viewed more than 1.9 million times.
In the comments, people were stressed out just reading about the boyfriend’s journey.
“Yikes this is stressful,” one wrote. “Omg I’m nervous for y’all,” another added.
“My anxiety would never! I check my experiation date every yr,” a third commented.
With a passport becoming harder to get than Taylor Swift concert tickets, as one commenter pointed out, many users had their own travel nightmares to share.
“I’ve flown from PHL to ATL and back just to get important paperwork to my husband by a deadline. Expensive yea, worth it YES!” this user wrote.
“Same homie,” another added. “But had to fly from Miami to DC then to Spain. Paid for expedited services and submitted it in February.”
A third commented, “This happened to our friends- unreal how backed up they are!! She applied in November and still didn’t have them end of April!!”
Passport delays are being blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic. “With COVID, the bottom basically dropped out of the system,” Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, told a House subcommittee in March.
He explained that travel restrictions during COVID caused the government to lay off and reassign staff who were responsible for passport approvals.
With the pandemic calming down and people itching to travel, it’s led to a demand that the government can’t currently fulfill.
Since many commentators were wondering if Carissa’s boyfriend made it to his flight in time, she uploaded an update.
@carissapars HERE IS FINALLY THE UPDATE… sorry ive been traveling all day and ill keep giving yall updates! Come back to see some itsly content😊🇮🇹🫶🏻
♬ original sound – rissa
She shared that he wasn’t able to make it in time since the passport agency in Atlanta wasn’t able to get him his passport until 3pm, and the flight to Italy was at 1pm. He eventually joined the family vacation on a few days late.
