SALT LAKE CITY — Aundra Morlan is hoping to do a little overseas traveling.
"Our 29th wedding anniversary, we were going to travel in April. Well, that didn't happen," she said in an interview Friday with FOX 13 News.
Morlan and her family are still at home in Duchesne, waiting on their passport renewal applications.
"They assured us we would have plenty of time get them in. We did that. And then a couple weeks later we get a let letter back stating that our passports were going to expire and that they could not renew them, which they hadn't even done yet," she said.
The problem has become so big, Utah's congressional delegation offices are being slammed with constituent requests to help.
"The good, hardworking people in my office? Each one of them, we're dealing with about 50 separate passport issues every day," said Congressman John Curtis, who represents Utah's 3rd Congressional District.
The U.S. Department of State is so backed up on passport applications, Rep. Curtis said people have waited months for any word. But he's also warning Utah travelers that they need to prepare themselves for long delays.
"We're just not doing well as the federal government in processing these," he told FOX 13 News. "On the other hand, we still have constituents that aren't checking far enough out and we need to get the word out that the second you schedule that vacation, please check your passport and check that expiration date."
During a recent hearing in the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Mitt Romney grilled a U.S. State Department official about the problem. He urged the agency to consider opening a passport office in Salt Lake City. Currently, people who try to renew in-person have to go to Denver, San Francisco or other cities that have them and take their chances.
"I think it's unreasonable to expect Americans to think it's going to take them months to get a passport, particularly a passport renewal," he said, pointing out that people can get a credit card in a matter of days.
Rena Bitter, the assistant secretary for consular affairs, insisted they were working on it.
"We've increased our staff 10% this year and we have more in the pipeline. You know, these are national security, every passport is a national security decision," she told Sen. Romney. "Bringing folks on in these positions, hiring, training, clearing and, and and making sure that they are suitable to have this really challenging job with a great deal of responsibility does take time."
On its website, the State Department acknowledged massive delays from so many passport applications nationwide. Rep. Curtis said the entire Utah congressional delegation is pushing to open a passport office in Salt Lake City to help.
"There's just no reason it should take months to process a passport," he said.
Morlan said she has considered driving to Denver to take their chances, but even then it's additional cost and delay.
"People are saying, 'Oh, I received mine in six weeks.' Other people are saying, 'Oh, no, it took four months.' Some people are saying 'No, it took me six months,'" she said. "So I'm like, well, we're going on six months at this point — but from the initial application."
