Need to apply for a passport? Are you a Washington resident? U.S.
citizens who live in Washington can apply for a United States passport
at any application acceptance facility, the nearest regional agency or
via a professional expediting service. The way you choose to apply will
depend on few factors. This article will explain the option you have.
Washington Passport Offices
Authorized
passport application acceptance facilities can be found in hundreds of
post offices, county clerk's offices, and public libraries in the state
of Washington. Residents can take the required oath and sign their
application in the presence of an official passport agents at these
locations.
The following counties have at least one passport
office: Adams, Asotin, Benton, Chelan, Clallam, Clark, Columbia,
Cowlitz, Douglas, Ferry, Franklin, Garfield, Grant, Grays Harbor,
Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Kittitas, Klickitat, Lewis, Lincoln,
Mason, Okanogan, Pacific, Pend Oreille, Pierce, SanJuan, Skagit,
Skamania, Snohomish, Spokane, Stevens, Thurston, Wahkiakum, WallaWalla,
Whatcom, Whitman, Yakima
There are a few counties that do not have
a passport office. If this is true of your county, check to see if
there is one in a neighboring county. King County has the most passport
offices with nearly fifty. There are a couple in the state capital. Here
is the addresses.
Olympia Post Office
900 Jefferson Street
Olympia, WA 98501
900 Jefferson Street
Olympia, WA 98501
Thurston County Clerk
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502
2000 Lakeridge Drive SW
Olympia, WA 98502
Currently, it is taking four to six weeks to
complete routine processing of applications. Expedited service is
taking from two to three for a passport application to be processed.
Applicants who must obtain their passport more quickly need to consider
the two options below.
Seattle Passport Agency
The
Seattle Passport Agency attends Washington residents who need to get a
passport in a hurry. If you have a departure scheduled within two weeks
or less, then the regional agency is the place your application needs to
be submitted. The regional agency can process applications as fast as
the same day. Here is the agency's address.
Seattle Passport Agency
Henry Jackson Federal Building
915 Second Avenue, Suite 992
Seattle, WA 98174-1091
Henry Jackson Federal Building
915 Second Avenue, Suite 992
Seattle, WA 98174-1091
Expediting a passport application form
at the Seattle agency begins by scheduling an appointment. You do this
by calling the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.
Periods of the year when the number of international travelers increases
significantly can contribute congested phone lines. This means you may
have to make numerous attempts before finally getting your appointment
set up.
The Seattle agency is open from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm, Monday through Friday except for weekends and national holidays.
You
are encouraged to arrive early to your appointment to give time for you
to get through the security check point and arrive in the waiting room.
When you enter the agency, you need to take a number. When your number
appear, direct yourself to the proper agent. Present the agent with your
passport application and other required documents.
The
application form and documents will be checked by the agent to verify
that they are acceptable. If approved, you will be asked to take an oath
and then sign your name on the form. Normally, your request will be
processed the same day. Since the State Department is very strict about
the requirements, it is important that you following the direction
carefully so that there are no delays with your process.
What do
you do if you do not have time to schedule an appointment and personally
visit the Seattle passport agency? You can still get your passport
quickly by authorizing a professional expediting service to submit the
application form for you.
Professional Passport Expediters
Regional
agencies recognize that, due to their location, not all applicant will
be able to apply in person. For these U.S. citizens, there are passport
expediters that have been officially registered with the regional
agencies.
It is not necessary that the expediter be located in
Seattle. Most of the larger, more reliable companies operate out of
Washington DC, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York or Miami. In fact,
most of these have offices in more than one of these locations. This
allows them to send your application to the regional agency for which
the quota has not been reached since each expediting service is given a
certain number of same day applications that they can submit in a day.
Expediters
have been submitting applications and obtaining passport for United
States citizens for decades. They are an excellent resource when you
absolutely must get your passport in a hurry and have no way to submit
the application yourself. Yes, you will pay an extra fee for this
service but setting up an appointment, traveling to the Seattle agency
and sitting around in long lines can be quite expensive in terms of time
and, even, money if you do not live near the agency. When you calculate
all expenses you could have doing this task yourself, going with a
passport expediter may just be one of the best investments you could
make.
Visit U.S. Passport Service Guide for a complete list of Washington passport offices or, if you are in a hurry, to compare emergency passport services.
