By: Cynthia Haley, a Foreign Service Officer whose prior tours of duty include La Paz, Bolivia; Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; San Salvador, El Salvador; Manila, Philippines, and Washington, D.C. She currently serves in El Paso, Texas, as the Director of the State Department’s newest passport agency.

The El Paso Passport Agency, located less than ten blocks from the U.S.-Mexico border, celebrates its grand opening today. As the State Department’s newest passport facility, the El Paso agency will provide a valuable service to area residents by facilitating cross border travel.

By offering expedited service, the El Paso agency will make it more convenient for U.S. citizens to get a passport if they are traveling within 14 days or have a life or death emergency. Currently, applicants in this area of the country who need expedited service must travel several hundred miles to Houston or Tucson. The new agency complements the existing passport acceptance services provided by post offices and the District Clerk’s office…

(Source: blogs.state.gov)