More context from AP: The department said it estimated that about 5 million Americans would be able to use this service a year. In 2023, it processed 24 millio

More context from AP: The department said it estimated that about 5 million Americans would be able to use this service a year. In 2023, it processed 24 million passports, about 40% of which were renewals. After staffing shortages caused mainly by the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in lengthy passport processing delays, the department ramped up hiring and introduced other technological improvements that have reduced wait times by about one-third over last year. It says most applications are now completed in far less than the advertised six weeks to eight weeks and the online renewal system is expected to further reduce that. https://apnews.com/article/passport-renewals-online-mail-paper-applications-87df311259fdbd01bc9fb50cab4137e9 https://apnews.com/article/passport-renewals-online-mail-pap...