Samuel Seward plans to head for the Dominican Republic after Thanksgiving.
It’s a vacation trip that he and his friend Gail Jones have been planning for some time. Seward needs a U.S. Passport before he can travel to the Caribbean nation.
So both came to the Prince William Branch of the U.S. Post Office in Woodbridge on Monday. Post office officials cut the ribbon the branch’s new “Mega-Passport Center.”
More than 25 people packed the office within minutes of a ribbon cutting heralding the opening of the new center.
“I had no idea there would be this many people on opening day,” said Seward.
The passport center is located inside the Post Office, near the lobby where many wait in line to mail packages and buy postage. A conference room and two offices were converted to make the new center, which includes two desks and three rows of chairs for those waiting to be seen.
“I was going to go to Downtown [Washington, D.C.] where I work, but this was closer,” said Jones.
No appointment is required to use the center. Those seeking a passport may come in and fill out the required application, bring the required documents that prove U.S. citizenship or naturalization to include a birth certificate.
Applicants may opt to have their passport photo taken at the center or bring their own, said USPS spokesman Tony Prisco. Once filled out, the application is then sent to the State Department and is processed within three to four weeks. Applicants may choose to pay an extra fee to have the passport expedited.
The overall cost for a passport is about $150 for those who choose to wait for the standard three to four weeks.
More than 25 people filed into the new center as soon as USPS officials cut the ribbon on the new center. This new center expects to serve between 60 and 75 per day in its first few months.
The region’s first “Mega-Passport Center” opened a year a half ago in the Merrifield Post Office in Fairfax County and served between 80 to 100 customers per day, said Prisco.
The Mega-Passport Center in the Prince William Branch Library Post Office is open Monday through Friday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. A Post Office on Reddy Drive in Woodbridge will no longer process applications for passports. All appointments made at the Reddy Drive location before November 2 will be honored, however.
The USPS says the State Department processed 14 million applications for passports in 2014. They urge applicants to begin the application process “at least several months before a planned trip.”
The Prince William Branch Post Office is located at 3360 Post Office Road in Woodbridge.
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