Passports will now be easier to obtain for those living in and around the Buffalo area.
A new passport office in downtown Buffalo is expected to open later this year and will allow travelers to obtain a passport in a matter of hours, as opposed to days.
This new office, which is expected to open in late September or early October, is a response to the tightening of cross-border regulations that went into effect last summer, leaving many residents in the Buffalo area annoyed.
Before these regulations went into effect, traveling back and forth from Canada to the United States was a semi-easy process. U.S. citizens were only required to present a primary form of identification, such as a driver's license or birth certificate, and had no trouble getting through Customs. Under the new system, U.S. travelers must have a passport, passport card, enhanced license or other valid identification, making the trip a hassle for those without these documents.
The process to obtain a passport can take up to six weeks, unless a rush is put on it, making it hard for many students who enter college without a passport to obtain one.
'I think [the new office] would be very beneficial because many of my friends are thinking about getting passports now,' said Gregory Quackenbush, a freshmen biomedical science major. '… It would be convenient if the process didn't take so long.'
This project, announced by Representative Brian Higgins (D-Buffalo) and Representative Chris Lee (R-Clarence), has been a bipartisan effort to improve cross-border relations.
'Western New Yorkers need to have the ability to travel easily across our northern border …' Lee said. 'With a one-stop shop passport office located right in our community, Western New Yorkers will be able to more easily acquire valid travel documents while not having their need to conduct cross-border business negatively affected.'
To many UB students, for whom border crossing is a regular occasion, getting a passport before now was already a necessity. Patrick Evan Medlock-Turek, a sophomore biology major, wishes the new system had been in place a while ago.
'I'm sure it would expedite getting a passport, which would be useful,' Medlock-Turek said. 'When I had to renew mine, I had to wait at the post office, and then it took a month and a half to get it. Plus $25 of the $100 went to the post office.'
The new office will be located in the historic Warner building in the Genesee Gateway development complex, which is under redevelopment and seeking lasting businesses to make a flourishing environment for the community.
It is estimated that this office, which is funded partially by federal stimulus money, will create more than 20 jobs in the area.
Additional reporting by Brendon Bochacki, Asst. Campus Editor
E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
