STATE DEPARTMENT
Passport office expected in WNY
Lee, Higgins make joint announcement
The State Department intends to open a passport office in Western New York, Reps. Chris Lee, R-Clarence, and Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo, announced during a news conference Saturday.
A passport issuance agency, as they are officially called, would make obtaining a passport much quicker for area residents.
The decision was announced just two weeks before new federal regulations requiring U. S. citizens to present a passport or other valid travel document at all land-based ports of entry. Western New Yorkers, particularly businesses that rely on border crossing, have been concerned about the impact of the new rules.
Right now, Western New Yorkers must mail in their applications for passports and end up waiting four to six weeks for the documents.
By comparison, passport seekers who live in cities with existing passport offices can get their documents in as little time as just a few hours to no more than two weeks.
Some desperate Western New Yorkers who need their passports in a hurry have resorted to driving to New York City and Detroit — the two closest cities with passport agencies — to get their documents.
Lee and Higgins petitioned Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the issue in late March. They also introduced bipartisan legislation for the agency.
The congressmen talked Friday with a State Department official, who confirmed to them that the department does intend to put an office somewhere in Western New York.
No time frame or specific location for the office has been mentioned.
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