Skyline College received the U.S. Department of State approval for Passport Acceptance Facility designation in December 2017. The U.S. Passport Office, part the Global Learning Programs and Services (GLPS) Division, helped many students, faculty, staff and the local community people to apply or renew their passport. A passport is a necessary and official document issued by a government to its citizens that certifies their identity and nationality for the purpose of international travel.
According to the U.S. Department of State, “Processing times have changed several times in the last few months. As of March 24, we are processing routine applications in 10-13 weeks, and expedited applications in 7-9 weeks.”
Due to the recent high demand for passport services after COVID, the Passport Office decided to extend the services hours in order to meet the needs of the community. We added walk-in hours on some Fridays and additional appointments on some Saturdays. The passport office staff are authorized to accept completed passport applications and submit the applications along with the required documentation to the U.S. Department of State for their review and approval. The additional 6-day services since February helped more than 200 applicants to apply/renew their passports and brought additional revenue to the College.
In addition to the increased quantity of accepted applications, our passport agents offer first-class efficient and satisfactory services to the applicants. One client commented on Yelp, “Sonya was so incredibly helpful to my partner, allowing her to come back the next day since we were missing a key document. Such a sweet lady and super funny!! Will definitely recommend this place to anyone I know!”
Another wrote, “I have not been to a passport office in 10 years and didn’t realize you can no longer drop in at the post office without an appointment. Appointments are 4 weeks away and I need my passport in 3 months. Luckily, I found this office and they had drop-in Saturday hours. Amazing service, plenty of parking and no wait. I recommend this office if you cannot mail it in.”
The Passport Office received a bookshelf donation from the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center and is building a Children’s Library for minor applicants. It takes about 15 minutes for processing one application. Minor applicants may make use of the waiting time to read some books while waiting for their passport applications to be processed. Donations of children’s books from the Skyline community are welcome.
SMCCCD students are also welcome to contact the Passport Office if you have plan to travel abroad for study or internships. We will offer special passport appointments for students.
The Skyline Passport Office is located at Room 412 in Building 19. Please visit our website at www.skylinecollege.edu/passport for the updated passport service hours. Email inquiries can be sent to skylinepassportervices@smccd.edu.
Article and Photos by Alice Yang
