Do Not Buy Emergency Appointments to Update Passports; State Dept. – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
NBC 5 Responds first informed you of major delays at passport offices across the country due to COVID-related closings and downsizing.
But now there is a new warning. People schedule emergency passports online and then fraudulently try to sell them on to desperate would-be travelers.
Nicole Stovall from Southlake planned a family trip to Italy, but plans changed and everyone ended up in New Mexico. That’s because Stovall was unable to renew their children’s passports in time.
“Apparently everyone else had exactly the same idea as us. Let’s visit friends and family internationally now that things have reopened we haven’t seen in a while and I think the passport services just got overwhelmed, ”said Stovall.
Contact with their elected representatives didn’t help either.
“I went to John Cornyn’s office and at that point someone answered me extremely quickly and just said, listen, we’re just going to catch up with you. Unless it is a life or death emergency, there is nothing we can do. You have to cancel your trip, ”said Stovall.
Americans across the country have had the same problem since international travel resumed.
Some people fly to other states or drive for hours to get emergency appointments at passport offices.
The problem has created a new problem.
There’s even a Facebook page that offers for swaps and often sells dates to people who have booked their trip and are desperate to renew their passports.
“I mean, there are people who go in there and take three and four appointments and then trade them or sell them or give them to someone else,” said Stovall.
In a statement to NBC 5, the U.S. Department of State wrote:
“We understand these issues and are working to prevent them from happening. The State Department does not charge a fee just for booking an emergency appointment with one of our agencies or centers. Any payment request for making an appointment with a US passport should be considered.” fraudulent. In addition, the department is not affiliated with any third-party appointment booking services and we have seen numerous cases of fake appointment bookings through these providers. We may not be able to meet appointments booked through third-party providers. ”
This week the State Department went further to address the issues, saying it would “push” staff back into offices across the country.
But if you already apply for a new passport, you won’t get your new passport until autumn.
Stovall said both American Airlines and AirBnB were very understanding and the family got almost all of their money back when their European vacation failed.
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