U.S. Boosts Passport Staff to Ease Backlog

The State Department has ordered about 350 young diplomats and recently employed civil servants to help clear a crushing backlog of passport applications. The backlog has led to major processing delays and disrupted thousands of Americans’ summer travel plans.

Three groups of 150 employees have been removed from their current posts in Washington and told Tuesday to report for two months of duty at passport facilities in Louisiana and New Hampshire as the department struggles to cope with overwhelming demand, officials said.

Those with pressing family commitments in the Washington area will be allowed to work at the passport production agency here.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy, John Negroponte, ordered the step because already drastic steps taken to reduce the backlog of millions of applications were not working fast enough, said Patrick Kennedy, the department’s management policy chief.

Those chosen for the duty already have the necessary security clearances to process the applications but will undergo a week-long refresher course beginning July 9. Many will arrive in New Orleans, La., and Portsmouth, N.H., the following week for the stints that end in August.

The State Department is paying travel and accommodation expenses plus a per diem allowance for meals and for one long weekend break over the two months, though some have grumbled about their assignments.

Last month, the department issued an urgent all-points global appeal for volunteers from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad to return to the United States for the summer to clear the backlog of almost 3 million applications and thousands more that pour in each day. The department says the wait for a new passport is now as long as three months, up from only six to eight weeks.