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Passport refunds available

Frustrated travelers who paid an extra $60 to get their U.S. passports expedited – and still had to wait for them – can now get a refund from the government.

The decision, disclosed in a State Department document sent earlier this June to members of Congress, is the latest effort to come to grips with a massive backlog in passport applications that has ruined or delayed summer vacation plans for thousands in the United States.

The delays were largely due to a new rule that requires U.S. citizens to have passports when flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Last week, the government announced it was suspending that rule until September, as long as travelers to those countries carried a printout receipt showing they had applied for a passport.

Many people who paid $60 for faster service, in addition to the regular processing fees of $97 for a new passport, did not receive their passports within the expected 14 days. Some waited for a month or more.

Get A Refund:

Passport applicants who paid for, but did not get, expedited service should send a written refund application to the following address: Department of State, Passport Services/PPS/Refunds, 2100 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W., Washington, D.C., 20037-3202. Include your passport number, if available, your name, date and place of birth, the approximate date you applied for the passport, a mailing address and a phone number.

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