Traveling abroad this summer? Plan ahead to avoid passport delays

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) - The city of Henderson said while they have seen a bit of a slowdown since FOX5 last checked in March, they are still reaching capacity before even opening their doors every day, which is at 7:30 am.

If you are hoping to travel abroad this summer now is not the time to wait.

“When we came there were about 46 people ahead of us,” said Darren Fane, who was waiting on Thursday to get his passport.

“We had to come in the morning but there was already a line,” Leslie Vides, who was also waiting Thursday, told FOX5.

Those who are taking advantage of the city of Henderson’s walk-in passport center are having to wait up to five hours in order to get their passport.

“You can’t travel internationally without a passport, so unfortunately, we are seeing people having to cancel their trips,” said Kristin Harrell, the city clerk for the city of Henderson.

Harrell said she has heard the U.S. Department of State is having staffing issues, which is causing the longer wait times for receiving a passport.

“They are still backed up because of COVID travel, so they are having some delays on their end but on our end, we are fully staffed,” said Harrell.

Right now, it takes 10 to 13 weeks for standard processing and seven to nine weeks for expediting.

Clark County Clerk Lynn Goya said they are experiencing the same delays with the Department of State. However, they have opened up 25 more appointments to help with the summer travel demand.

“If you make an appointment, show up,” Goya said. “If you have to cancel, then let us know so that somebody else can come in, because if you are making multiple appointments, then it appears there is a bigger backlog than there is.”

Here are some things to do in order to get your passport and not have your application get rejected:

· Fill out the initial application online

· Bring your original birth certificate, not a photocopy

· Make sure you don’t have a bad photo quality passport photo

“We are very careful to make sure to go through all of your paperwork and make sure there are no red flags,” said Goya.

The overall message from the city of Henderson and Clark County is to plan ahead and don’t wait until the last minute.

The city of Henderson takes walk-ins and if you want to make an appointment you can do that through the county by clicking here.

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