Story County hosted its third passport day Saturday for residents to apply for passports before the holiday season. The Story County Recorder’s Office is also open for early voting with the upcoming presidential election.
The first time the records office hosted passport day was at the Memorial Union approximately six years ago, according to staff.
“We offered it at the Union because they had satellite voting, and we didn’t get any people,” Story County Recorder Stacie Herridge said. “So, then we offered it, I think, four years ago during the general, and since the building was already open, we thought, ‘We’ll just do it from eight to twelve or nine to one.’ Then we had a lot.”
Herridge said the reason for providing this opportunity for early voters to register for a passport was in response to a policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
The WHTI is a policy created as a part of the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. This act is a part of post-9/11 travel policies and requires that all travelers entering the U.S. provide a passport or other documentation that shows identification and proof of citizenship.
“It used to be able to just have a birth certificate to go to Mexico,” Herridge said. “And then the U.S. State Department clamped down and said you have to have a passport to travel.”
“We thought we would just offer it because the building is open anyway,” Herridge said. “It’s just a couple hours to help our residents that have a hard time bringing families in during the work day. So why not offer it on a weekend?”
Passport day requires appointments so they can get an idea of how many staff members they will need. The last passport day was Nov. 5, 2016. The office had 25 passport applications and 30 passport photos. This first event was well received and has encouraged the county to continue offering the service.
Passports take about three weeks to arrive, so it is recommended that those who plan to travel out of the country and do not have a passport plan a time in advance to apply for one.
More information for applying for a passport in Story County can be found on the county website.
