State Department suspends overseas passport, visa issuance as new glitch hits database

The State Department has been forced to suspend the issuance of U.S. passports and visas at its overseas diplomatic missions due to a computer glitch that has hit one of its computer databases.

In a statement, the department said the hardware failure in its Consular Consolidated Database glitch has left overseas embassies and consulates unable to print visas, regular passports and other travel documents. The department said that people who submitted online applications for passports and visas on or after June 9 will likely experience delays in processing.

The consular database was taken down last year by another technical glitch that had the same affect, but the department said the current issue is unrelated. The department said it was working as quickly as possible to resolve the issue.