Expect some significant delay if you're waiting for your U.S. passport or visas at any of the state department's consular offices all over the world.

Technicians at the the U.S. Department of State are now working overtime to fix a glitch within the department's Consular Consolidated Database, which could potentially affect millions of people if it is not solved fast enough.

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The database is State's system of record and is used to approve, record and print visas and other documents, and as a reference in ensuring that national security checks are conducted on applicants, incuding American citizens waiting for passports.

State spokeswoman Marie Harf said the database problem has resulted in significant outages in the processing of applications for passports, visas, and certifications for Americans who were born overseas.

The problem started Saturday, and is not confined to any particular country, document classification, or visa category.

"We apologize to applicants and recognize this may cause hardship to applicants waiting on visas and passports. We are working to correct the issue as quickly as possible," Harf said.

The glitch has now resulted in an extensive backlog of applications which, in turn, has hampered efforts to get the system back on line.

Harf would not say how many people have been, and will be, affected, but in one country alone, 50,000 applicants have been hit, according to one official at a U.S. embassy.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly or identify the country.

The database glitch comes at a time when travellers worldwide, including thousands of Americans, have been worrying about terrorist attacks and actual flight delays and cancellations, resulting from the recent downing of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, and from the continuing conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

TagsUS State Department, Consular Database