People wanting to get passports for travel can expect quicker service, according to the U.S. State Department.

Starting this month, passport processing times will be 8-11 weeks for routine service and 5-7 weeks for expedited service, times that are about two weeks quicker than in the last year when post-pandemic travel pushed passport waits into months. In the last fiscal year, the department issued more than 24 million passport books and cards, the most ever in the nation’s history.

Quicker processing started Oct. 2 and begins the day the application is received, not when it was mailed.

“We are continuously reassessing our operations to maximize efficiencies and are introducing innovations to our customer service and processing models. We are investing in supporting and modernizing our technology, increased staffing levels by ten percent, and have hundreds of additional staff in the hiring pipeline. We remain focused on lowering processing times, and this reduction is an important first step,” the State Department said in a statement.

Anyone considering international travel is advised to apply for a renewal at least six to nine months ahead of the passport’s expiration date. You can see more at travel.state.gov.