El Paso residents in need of emergency passport services will soon be able to obtain one close to home. The new El Paso passport agency office is expected to be open in March, and the Department of State held a pre-opening event this week to celebrate. At the event, Jacqueline Harley-Bell of passport operations explained the how the new office will help citizens of El Paso and surrounding areas:<\/p>\n
“When they go to acceptance facilities, which are the post offices and clerks of court, it normally takes them anywhere from 4-6 weeks to get the passport book or card processed. It’ll be more convenient for them having a passport agency in their own backyard.”<\/p>\n
So what’s the difference between an acceptance facility and a passport agency office? As Ms. Harley-Bell noted, acceptance facilities have a much longer processing time. When you apply at a an acceptance facility, you can choose from regular or expedited processing. Regular processing takes about 6 weeks, but even if you pay the additional $60 for expedited processing at an acceptance facility, you’re still stuck waiting two to three weeks for your passport to arrive.<\/p>\n
Passport agency offices like the one currently being built in El Paso offer emergency passport processing. If you need a passport for travel in two weeks or less, you qualify for an appointment at a passport agency office. However, the closest passport agency office to El Paso that’s open right now is the one in Tucson, and that’s 319 miles away!<\/p>\n
The new office will be more conveniently located, obviously, but will it be the best option for everyone? Not necessarily. Passport agencies tend to have very limited hours of operation, and are only open on weekdays, which can make them inconvenient for people who work during the day. They are also open by appointment only, and you can’t just walk in.<\/p>\n
In contrast, using a private passport expediting company like RushMyPassport is much easier. There’s no need to make an appointment or take off work to get to a passport agency office. Just send your application and supporting documents to the expediting company and they’ll deal with the Department of State for you.<\/p>\n
When you use RushMyPassport, you also get walked through the application process by your own passport specialist, and we offer turnaround times as low as 24 hours.<\/p>\n