Good news for travel procrastinators: Passport agency to open in Orlando

Procrastinating before a trip has never been more convenient: Central Florida residents should soon find it easier to secure their passports with a new office to do so opening in Orlando.

The city is one of six in the U.S. to receive new passport agencies, U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, announced in a news conference Tuesday.

The result? Fewer 235-mile trips from Orlando to Miami, currently the site of the only passport agency in the state.

There are about 25 “passport counters” within 25 miles of downtown Orlando, ]usually in government buildings like post offices, but they can’t do what an agency can. As Frost explained, passport counters receive your information and dispatch it to the Miami agency for processing. It can take six to eight weeks to receive your passport, and if you want it faster, you may have to pay a private “passport expediter” to handle it for you.

But agencies like Miami’s have the authority to deal with emergencies, like a life-and-death situation with a family member when you need a same-day passport. Even lesser emergencies, like you forgot your trip is actually next month, are enough to get an agency to expedite. And if there’s a problem with your ID documents or background check, they often can tell you right away.

For the privilege, “people have to drive hours and hours,” he said. “A lot of people have to spend their own money to get a hotel to stay overnight because it’s so far from their home.”

Soon, that will be no more.

It may take up to a year for the U.S. General Services Administration to determine where the office should go. In the meantime, Frost said he wants recommendations from city leaders.

Frost said receiving approval for a passport office is difficult because of the amount of federal money required,though he didn’t know an exact amount at Tuesday’s conference.

“We’re really happy we got this,” he said, “but this is something that a lot of times can take years, if not decades to try to win in your area, but we had a good case for it.”