Passport Delay Nearly Causes Illinois Choir Member to Miss Chance to Sing at Historic English Cathedral (Exclusive)

Linda Maclachlan and her 15-year-old twin daughters have been invited to sing at Canterbury Cathedral, but almost missed out on the honor

Linda Maclachlan nearly missed an opportunity to sing at one of England's oldest cathedrals, after she waited more than four months for her passport to be renewed.

Linda, her husband, David Maclachlan, and their 15-year-old twin daughters, Jenna and Tara, joined Christ Church in Winnetka, Illinois, during the COVID-19 pandemic after being drawn to its "phenomenal" music program.

They were particularly impressed with the church’s multigenerational choir, which accompanies its music director, Richard Clemmitt, to sing at historic English cathedrals every other year. While the last choir trip had been canceled due to the pandemic, Linda, 59, tells PEOPLE the family was "so excited" to attend the next trip, to Canterbury Cathedral, in August.

The trip was also special because David is from England, and sang at Salisbury Cathedral growing up.

Linda applied for her passport renewal in early March, expecting that it would arrive within three months. Her daughters' passports, which they applied for in person at a local township office, came within a few weeks. But since hers was a renewal, Linda couldn't make an appointment and applied by mail.

In June, she started to get "more and more nervous" when she still hadn’t received her passport.

“It was really scary to think that I might miss the chance to be there,” she says.

Linda decided that if she didn’t have the passport by the Fourth of July, she would “go into high action mode” the next day.

Related: Passport Delays Cause Maryland Couple to Miss Once-in-a-Lifetime Trip: 'Devastating' (Exclusive)

On July 5, she reached out to Illinois Rep. Brad Schneider, and received a form letter asking her to complete a privacy release form, which she sent back right away. She was sent a confirmation for the release form that afternoon, but then “it just went into the ether.”

Linda says she repeatedly called the U.S. State Department and finally got through to someone a week later. She was told the passport had already been processed, but was sent to the wrong address. The street address was correct, but the city and zip code were different.

She says the phone representative told her, “This happens more often than you'd think. And they're so overloaded right now that there can be transcribing errors when they're putting them into the system."

In March, the State Department announced that the processing time for passports had “changed several times” in the past few months, due to high demand post-pandemic. The processing time for routine applications was extended to 10-13 weeks, and seven to nine weeks for expedited applications — and that doesn’t include mailing times, which may add up to two weeks for applications to arrive and another two weeks for the completed passport to reach the applicant.

A State Department spokesperson told PEOPLE in an email, "As more Americans are traveling internationally again, we continue seeing unprecedented demand for passports. In Fiscal Year 2022, we issued nearly 22 million passports — more than ever before — and we are on track to break that record again for Fiscal Year 2023.

Related: What's the Fastest Way to Renew Your Passport? A Travel Expert Explains How to Do it in 24 Hours — at a Cost

"The Department is experiencing a surge in passport demand, and during some weeks we are seeing twice as many applications pending compared to the same point in FY 2022," they said.

The spokesperson added that they’re receiving approximately 400,000 applications each week, following "higher-than-normal volumes" in January through May that exceeded 500,000 applications a week.

"We are working hard to get back to our pre-pandemic processing times by the end of calendar year 2023," the spokesperson said, adding that the measures they’re taking include increasing hiring and training, authorizing overtime, and investing in automation and other technologies. Before the pandemic, standard passport processing times were six to eight weeks for routine service and two to three weeks for expedited service.

The State Department is also urging citizens to apply at least six months in advance of travel or their passport’s expiration date. However, procedures are in place for Americans who must travel within three business days due to a "qualifying emergency" — for example, an immediate family member outside the U.S. has died, is dying, or has a life-threatening illness or injury.

On July 12, Linda was told her passport would be resent to the correct address the following morning. She finally received it on July 21.

Linda is excited that her family will now be able to sing at the cathedral during several rehearsal nights and then for its main Sunday service.

She says she would’ve been “completely heartbroken” if she’d missed the trip, but would have encouraged her husband and daughters to go. Plus, her relatives had already planned to stay at her home for their own vacation while her family is away, so staying behind would’ve made for a crowded house.

When Linda got her passport in the mail, she says there was "joy and relief.”

“I think in that moment I was just able to exhale, because I wanted to go so badly, and I was so grateful for all of the rallying support that I received, including everybody at my church,” she says. “People were just so behind me and saying, ‘What can I do?’ And people offering me numbers for their expediting services. And so sometimes in moments like that, you realize how much support there is, and I was really touched by that.”

She adds, “I think the thing that makes me so sad is there's so many people who have big events going on and/or family matters that they need to attend to, and relatives who are overseas and they can't go.”

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