> I'd applied for a passport in the summer of 2020, during the height of the COVID lockdown. I could get an appointment at the passport office within a week (so

> I'd applied for a passport in the summer of 2020, during the height of the COVID lockdown. I could get an appointment at the passport office within a week (socially distanced, reduced capacity), and had my passport in hand the next week So no different than America? The official site says 8 - 16 weeks, but in my experience, they come promptly within a week or two at most. Unless you have confusing circumstances that require manual review. I had a friend going to Ireland and his entire family had the passports within days but he filled out his form wrong and it took the full eight weeks, including a visit. I mean, we just renewed a passport last week, and got it this week. I'm happy the passport process is so streamlined, but again that wasn't the point of the article. Nor is passport processing times at all related to government intervention in the economy.