In efforts to help travelers who are in a rush to obtain a passport, the State Department will be opening six new passport agencies.
These facilities are meant to assist those with “urgent travel needs,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on Tuesday.
The State Department has not yet shared addresses or opening dates for the new agencies.
These new facilities will be located in Salt Lake City, Utah; Kansas City, Missouri; Orlando, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; San Antonio, Texas; and Cincinnati, Ohio.
In the first five months of 2024, Americans made 28.2 million international trips, according to data from the National Travel & Tourism Office (NTTO), the agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce that tracks tourism statistics. That’s an 11% jump from the 25.4 million trips taken to foreign countries last year during the same period.
During the height of the Covid pandemic, the wait time for a new passport grew as long as 18 weeks. Last year, the turnaround time dropped to eight to 11 weeks for a standard passport renewal. Today the turnaround has grown shorter, with current wait times back to pre-pandemic customs of six to eight weeks for standard service and expedited service in two weeks.
“The six additional facilities will expand our passport network to 35 passport agencies and centers and over 7,400 public passport acceptance facilities nationwide. As our existing network of agencies do every day, these new passport agencies will provide service to travelers with urgent travel needs,” Blinken said in a press release. “Travelers who do not require urgent passport services can apply at one of our 7,400 passport acceptance facilities, which include post offices and other local government facilities. More than 99 percent of Americans already live within 25 miles of an acceptance facility.”
The Department of State encourages U.S. citizens to apply for, or renew, their passports before they book travel. Those preparing for a trip can visit travel.state.gov/passport to plan your travel with the latest passport and travel guidance.
