ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando is set to get a new passport office operated by the U.S. State Department, the second passport office to operate in Florida.
Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, made the announcement Tuesday.
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State Department passport centers handle urgent travel needs, such as getting a passport issued that day or getting a foreign visa within a month. These are different from passport counters at local U.S. Post Offices, for instance, or the county clerk of courts.
The offices are by appointment only and require an extra fee to expedite the process. They often are also seriously backed up because it is the only office in the state.
Right now the closest passport office to Orlando is in Miami. The next closest office is in Atlanta.
Frost, however, has been pushing for the last year to get the State Department to look at opening an office in Orlando, and extend passport hours at the Miami office.
“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,” Frost said. “Our system was totally backed up, with renewals taking over six weeks.”
A Frost spokesperson said recent passport events held earlier this month in Central Florida helped demonstrate the need for the new office.
“It gave us a proof point, and showed (the State Department) how many people needed this office in Central Florida,” Frost said.
The State Department is also opening new passport offices in Cincinnati, San Antonio, Kansas City Missouri, Salt Lake City and Charlotte.
Frost said the General Services Administration will now work on finding a place for that office in Orlando. Frost said the process can take up to a year, but hopes to have the office up sooner.
The U.S. State Department says it issued over 24 million passport books and cards in Fiscal Year 2023, and 48% of Americans have passports.
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