Passports and traveling internationally this summer

NEW HANOVER COUNTY (WWAY) — According to the U.S. State Department, they’re processing a half million passport applications a week.  Time is ticking if you’re in need of a passport for summer travel.

A passport is needed when traveling abroad, so if you don’t have one and live in the Cape Fear region, what should you do?

“If you are traveling and you do not have a passport, I would encourage you to come in immediately because the passport office, the state office, is lagging a little bit behind,” says Morghan Getty Collins with the New Hanover County Register of Deeds

You can now apply for passports at the New Hanover County Register of Deeds location at 320 Chestnut Street.  Appointments are available from 7:30 a-m to 3 p-m and can be made online.

“So, you can go across the hall and get your birth certificate, come over here, get your picture taken. We’ll go through your application with you, make sure you have everything you need and send it right off. So, what we get to do is as a register of deeds is kind of be a one stop shop. We’re the only place you can get your birth certificate, which you have to have for your passport,” said Collins.

So how long does it take to get your passport?

“The routine process for a passport is 10 to 13 weeks, but we can expedite it and it’s 7 to 9 weeks if you want to do it that way. The expedite is an extra fee of $60 and that will be 7 to 9 weeks until you get your passport back,” said Katey-Ann Yonker, Administrative Assistant with the New Hanover County Register of Deeds.

For more information on the Register of Deeds in New Hanover County and passports, click here.