Applying for a passport or renewing your existing passport just got easier.
The U.S. State Department recently announced that new passport offices will open in 6 cities across the country, joining the 29 passport offices that already exist.
These new passport offices will be located in key cities across the U.S. to make it easier for millions of Americans to obtain or renew a passport.
More Americans than ever before have a passport — the figure is up to 48% of the population, whereas it was only 5% in 1990, according to the U.S. State Department.
Although it’s currently possible to renew your passport by mail and sometimes online (although these are not always good options, which I’ll discuss more below), the only way you can get a passport for the first time is by applying in person at a passport office or passport acceptance facility.
Visiting a passport office is also the easiest way to get your expiring passport renewed.
So, the new passport offices will be very helpful for many American travelers.
Where Are The New Passport Offices?
The new passport offices have not opened yet, but these are the cities where they will soon open:
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Orlando, Florida
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- San Antonio, Texas
- Cincinnati, Ohio
When will these passport offices open? The U.S. State Department hasn’t announced exact dates for the opening of these offices yet. However, all locations have been confirmed.
This is good news for millions of Americans who previously did not live anywhere close to a passport office. For example, anyone located in north or central Florida had to travel all the way to Miami to visit a passport office, which could be 6+ hours away depending on where in Florida you live.
It’s a similar story for anyone living in Charlotte, North Carolina — previously, you’d have to get to Atlanta, more than 4 hours away, to visit a passport office.
So these additions in highly-populated cities will make it much easier to find a passport office near you.
What About Mail Applications?
It’s possible to renew an expired passport by mail, but you can’t apply for a new one this way.
Still, I don’t even recommend renewing your passport by mail. With processing times currently hovering at 6 to 8 weeks (and that’s in addition to the additional 4 weeks the State Department cautions for mailing times), it can take months to renew your passport by mail.
Can’t You Apply Online?
At the start of 2023, the State Department released an online passport renewal system. Keyword: renewal. So you can also not use this system to apply for a passport for the first time — you will still have to do that in person.
However, you can use the online system to renew your passport… if it’s working.
The online system has been glitchy since it began and many users have had issues with it. It also takes just as long as renewing your passport by mail.
So I personally recommend applying for or renewing your passport in person at a passport office — all you have to do is call 1-877-487-2778 to schedule an appointment.
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