Passport delays to worsen as U.S. rules come in

A rush on Fredericton's Passport Canada offices has doubled wait times for travel documents, and a spokeswoman saysthis isjust the beginning.

Under new rules that came into effect today, Canadians need a passport tofly tothe U.S.and a spike in processing means there's a chancenot everyone with a trip plannedwill gettheir documents in time.

'The nature of backlogs is that backlogs create more backlogs.' -Francine Charbonneau

The fear of that happening had Fredericton's Passport Canada office overflowing with people lined up to apply fortheirs on Monday.

Francine Charbonneau, an information officer with Passport Canada, says roughly 21,000 applications have been coming in daily. Normally a passport arrives 10 business days after the application is made, but the recent rush has slowed operations considerably.

"We're advertising an extra 20 business days on top of our usual business standards," Charbonneau said. "And those delays will probably get longer as well. The nature of backlogs is that backlogs create more backlogs."

Sheila French and her daughter Kaylee drove from Saint John to apply for Kaylee's passport so they can take a mother-daughter trip to New Yorkin mid-February. French admitted it was late, but the initial plan wasn't to fly —their bus tour was cancelled.

"Once I called the passport toll-free number they reassured me that as long as we got here this week, that we would have it in time for the trip," French said.

The new measure applies only to air travellers, but similar restrictions for passengers arriving in the U.S. by land and sea could take effect in January 2008.

Charbonneau is hoping people will plan ahead and get their passports before that date, so the same thing won't happen next year.