Queue and A: Will I Get My Passport in Time?

Are they selling Springsteen tickets at the Washington Passport Agency?

Judging by the lines outside the passport office, which wrap around the sidewalk like a corn maze, something big has been happening over there in recent weeks. Unfortunately, it's more serious than a concert by the Boss.

As many of those who are traveling abroad know too well, new regulations that require passports for Americans flying to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, the Bahamas and Bermuda have caused a major backlog in applications. Even though the State Department recently relaxed the rules for those traveling to these countries through September, the wait to receive a passport has stretched from the standard four to six weeks to 12 weeks . . . or longer.

To catch up on the mountain of paperwork, the agency has extended the hours at some passport offices across the country, contacted overseas offices for volunteers, recruited retirees to return to duty, encouraged other State Department employees to pitch in, and trained and assigned summer interns to passport services, according to Michele Bond, the State Department's public affairs director for consular affairs. "The bottom line is: We need more people to be doing this, and we have been bringing more people onboard for months," Bond said last week.

And still the lines barely move.

On Monday morning, outside the Washington Passport Agency at 1111 19th St. NW, the sense of urgency was palpable. About 200 anxious travelers had formed three lines before the doors even opened at 8 a.m. -- one for those with appointments, another for applicants with letters from a senator or congressman, and a long, snaking queue for people without a confirmed time. In total, Bond said, nearly 625 Americans would visit the agency that day.

All had one thing in common: Their trips were scheduled to begin in three days or less. Some could even count on one hand the number of hours remaining before their flights left. As the minutes ticked by, mini dramas unfolded, with many would-be travelers leaving empty-handed and others waving their small blue books triumphantly.

8:11 a.m. Sarah Katz-Hyman, 17, and her parents are surprisingly good-natured, considering that they've been standing in line since 4:30 a.m. Sarah, of Newport News, Va., is scheduled to leave for Israel in less than 24 hours. She submitted her passport application 12 weeks ago. When it didn't show up, the family contacted Rep. Jo Ann Davis (R-Va.), who wrote a letter that allows Sarah to wait in the "congressional line" -- a major coup.

8:25 Marcus Letourneau, a 31-year-old garden department supervisor from College Park who is set to leave for Mexico in two days, half-jokes about having to take the train across the border if his passport does not materialize soon. His girlfriend, Laura Messing, 21, gloats that her passport is in order. However, her driver's license is expiring, and she must race up to the New Jersey DMV before their flight. It's a toss-up as to whose bureaucratic experience will be worse.

8:34 Paul Miles pushes his small suitcase forward an inch. The 32-year-old aircraft mechanic from Annandale must leave here with passports for his children Arianna and Noah by 1 p.m. in time to catch the 2 o'clock Auto Train to Florida, where his family awaits his arrival. If he misses the train, his six-month missionary trip to Argentina will be in jeopardy. "I'm nervous," he says. "If I miss the train, I'll have to pay more than $2,000 in [airline] tickets."

9:12"If you are leaving after Wednesday, get out of the line," a guard proclaims. No one budges.