According to the Department of State, the new passport office that just opened in Atlanta, Georgia marks the end of the department’s US Passport Agency Expansion Project.

The project, paid for by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, opened a total of 7 new passport facilities to assist US citizens facing passport emergencies. New offices were built in Atlanta, Georgia; Buffalo, New York; El Paso, Texas; San Diego, California; and St. Albans, Vermont, while public access was added to existing facilities in Arkansas and New Hampshire.

In a press release, the State Department said that “These ARRA-funded facilities are providing urgent passport services to millions of U.S. citizens in previously underserved areas. Each facility issues passport books on site to qualifying customers who have plans to travel within 14 days. Four of the facilities are located within several miles of the Canadian and Mexican borders and issue passport cards on site.”

The new passport offices are definitely an improvement, but if you need an expedited passport you’re still likely to find the service to be a hassle. For one thing, even with the new locations, many Americans still face a long car trip or even a plane ride to get to the nearest passport agency office. There are only 25 of them in the United States.

Secondly, passport agency offices tend to keep limited office hours. Not only are they closed on weekends and holidays as you might expect, they typically close earlier in the afternoon than other businesses, usually by 3:00 or 4:00 local time. Plus, they don’t accept walk-ins, so you’ll have to go through the trouble of making an appointment.

If you can’t fit all of that into your schedule, using an expediting company like RushMyPassport might be a better option for you. With an expediting company, if you need to apply for your passport in person you can simply go down to your local post office to have your documents “sealed” by the clerk. Once your paperwork is in order, send it to us and we’ll hand-deliver it to the Department of State. Depending on the option you select, we can have it processed in as little as 24 hours!

Need a new passport fast? We can help!