The US State Department's global database for issuing travel documents has crashed, sparking major delays for potentially millions waiting for passports and visas.
Unspecified problems in the department's Consular Consolidated Database have resulted in "significant performance issues, including outages" since Saturday in the processing of applications for passports, visas and reports of Americans born abroad, spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Thursday.
She said the problem was worldwide and not specific to any particular country, citizenship document or visa category.
It was not immediately clear how many people were affected but an official at a US embassy said about 50,000 applicants were hit in one country alone.
The database is the State Department's system of record and is used to approve, record and print visas and other documents to ensure national security checks are conducted.
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Harf said the problems with the database have resulted in an "extensive backlog" of applications, which has hampered efforts to get the system fully back on line.
"We apologise to applicants and recognise this may cause hardship to applicants waiting on visas and passports. We are working to correct the issue as quickly as possible," she said.
