Houston Passport Agency to Reopen on Tuesday, September 5
Last week, we learned that the Houston Passport Agency office shut down due to the catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey. This closure of such a large office caused ripple effects across the US Passport Agency offices and Allied Passport & Visa saw firsthand how any open expedited time slots closed up at other passport offices. This unexpected tightening of availability left Allied Passport and other passport agencies unable to turn around expedited USA passport orders quickly.
The gloomy situation is soon changing and the Houston Passport Agency is expected to reopen on Tuesday, September 5 after the end of the long Labor Day weekend. Any passport applications that were in the office at the time of closure will be processed starting at this time. Due to the closure of the Miami Passport Office — also closed due to severe weather — the Houston Passport Agency backlog may also include some passports sent to the Miami office, which were forwarded to the Houston office for processing.
As far as delays and what travelers needing the Houston office should do, a spokesperson provided the following statement:
The Houston Passport Agency’s temporary closure will have a minimal effect on national passport processing times. We have 27 other passport agencies located across the United States that are open and continue adjudicating applications. At this time, Passport Services is well within our processing customer service commitment.
We recommend Houston customers needing urgent passport services contact the National Passport Information Center to determine the best option for their situation. We will work them and do what we can so they will not miss their planned trip. Phone: 1-877-487-2778/ 1-888-874-7793 (TDD/TTY)
Despite the reopenings, there may be a lack of expedited appointments and passport processing agencies may not be able to turn around applications as quickly as normal. If you need to renew your passport or obtain a second passport, you should get the process started sooner than later.
