Emergency passport office now open in downtown Minneapolis

Star Tribune

Last update: May 21, 2009 - 8:54 PM

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The U.S. State Department has opened an office to issue emergency passports in downtown Minneapolis.

The staff of Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., on Thursday announced the opening of the office, 212 3rd Av. S.

Citizens with "urgent or emergency travel needs" will be able to immediately obtain passports and passport cards there, according to Klobuchar's office.

Previously, Minnesotans who needed passports immediately had to travel to the passport office in Chicago for expedited service. Regular passport applications will continue to be processed through passport centers in Seattle and Charleston, N.C.

In a news release, Klobuchar said the opening of the new passport office is especially timely because the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will take effect on June 1.

The new rules will require most U.S. citizens entering the United States to have a passport or a passport card.

Before the new rules, Americans arriving by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and Caribbean countries did not need a passport.

BOB VON STERNBERG

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