Given this situation, the growing demand has made it almost impossible for acceptance facilities to keep up. Add to that the number of facilities has significantly decreased from 8,400, just a few years ago, to a little over 7,000 today. More than 20 million passport applications are processed every year. This can be done from either a desktop or mobile device. So, the first step is to schedule an appointment online. Post offices often change their hours of operation or close their passport services. Tip #1: Schedule an Appointment at the Post OfficeWe frequently receive messages and comments from individuals who have visited a post office to submit a new passport application only to discover that an appointment was required. State Department Regional Processing Agency or enlist the help of a passport expeditor. In these situations, you will need to either get an appointment at a U.S. Note: If you have urgent travel needs (meaning you need to travel abroad within the next month or sooner), your local post office locations will not provide you with the processing speed you need to get your passport as quickly as possible. Below are a few tips to guarantee that you get it done without a hitch. If you plan to join this group and get your passport for the first time (or you need a new passport because your last one was issued more than 15 years ago) there is a good chance that you will be applying at a post office. There were over 20 million passports issued in each of the years from 2017-2019.Īs of 2020, there were a total of more than 143 million valid passports in circulation. This year-over-year increase did not let up. That is a 1,468,875 difference from the 2014 figures. In 2015 alone, there were 15,556,216 passport books issued. The addition of post office passport services has eased that burden on other passport acceptance facilities.Īnother significant increase in the number of applications submitted occurred when the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was instituted. County clerks and other state and municipal government offices alone could not handle the demand.

Postal Service began offering passport services a few decades ago, due to the significant increase in American citizens who were applying for passports. Of the more than 7,000 passport application acceptance facilities located in the United States and its territories, the vast majority can be found in local post offices.

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