NEWS: Orlando Is About to Make It EASIER to Get a Passport

Attention Florida residents: Getting a passport is about to become much easier.

Passport

Thanks to the tireless efforts of a Florida politician, a new State Department Passport Center is set to open in Orlando, making handling any international travel issues much easier for Central Florida residents.

For years, Florida has been home to just one State Department Passport Center. Different than your typical post office passport counter, these passport centers can accommodate urgent travel needs, such as getting a passport issued within a day or a foreign visa within a month. These offices are by appointment only and require an extra fee to expedite the process.

Previously, the only State Department Passport Center in Florida was located in Miami, meaning that those who needed to access one from the Central Florida area needed to travel south, or north all the way to Atlanta. This led to huge demand across the state and a backup that the single office was overwhelmed by. Said backup came to the attention of Orlando Representative Maxwell Frost last year.

Miami’s Passport Center

Frost explained, “Last summer my office saw an influx in folks and cases of people very stressed in trying to get their summer travel plans booked, whether it was for vacation or a funeral or graduation, only to figure out that their passport was expired or about to expire. Our system was totally backed up, with renewals taking over six weeks.”

According to Frost, he was able to take this data to the State Department, since it gave a” proof point, and showed (the State Department) how many people needed this office in Central Florida.” In-turn, the State Department decided to add an Orlando office to their latest slate of upcoming Passport Centers, which also includes locations in Cincinnati, San Antonio, Kansas City Missouri, Salt Lake City and Charlotte.

@RepMaxwellFrost Instagram

Planning for the new Orlando State Department Passport Center is ongoing now, and it will likely take at least a year for the site to open, though Frost says the General Services Administration is hoping for sooner. Stay tuned to AllEars for further coverage.