Passport applications are reaching record highs in Pasco County, according to Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller Nikki Alvarez-Sowles.
Her office held a Saturday event on March 4, and within four hours, it received 309 passport applications.
“The line here in Dade City was out of the office, down the hall and to the stairwell in the government center,” she told the Pasco County Commission, during its March 7 meeting.
“The question I usually get when I’m out and about is, ‘What is the turnaround time for the Passport Agency to process passports. So, I can give that information. A routine passport is about eight to 11 weeks right now. Expedited is between five to seven weeks. You have to pay extra for expedited.
“There’s a way to get it even sooner for urgent travel, a non-emergency case. You have to go to the actual Passport Agency.”
The closest ones are in Miami and Atlanta.
A passport on an urgent basis can be granted in about 14 business days.
If there’s an emergency situation, it can be processed within three days.
Renewals can be mailed in.
Commissioner Kathryn Starkey also told her colleagues that it’s important to know that some countries will not let in foreign travelers if their passport is set to expire within six months.
Published March 15, 2023
