Taipei Economic & Cultural Office in Houston — Attraction in Houston

I came all the way from Dallas to this place to renew my expired Taiwanese passport, and did call them 2 days ahead of time to make sure I got the documents needed to renew my expired passport. The lady (Ms. Tseng) was quite nice most the time, though there were times she told me to just read what is on the web.

On my arrival on Wednesday afternoon, I was a bit confused on how to get in, before I realized that I needed to ask the front for an access card to take the elevator to 20th floor where the office is at (you need to scan with the card given at the front desk to press floor 20 button in the elevator). Masks are still required in the building. When I arrive around 2:30pm, there were two people ahead of me with few people taking their time at the counter, which was understandable. About 30 minutes later, it was my turn. The front desk workers are quite nice too. They checked my documents and asked me to sign where I missed and filled out where I missed. They did make a copy for me and they do charge 25 cents/copy. When everything is set for my passport renewal,, they totaled up the cost: 25 cents for the copy, $45 for visa renewal, and $4 for the extra document I needed to get my passport renewed.

Since the lady who took me seemed to be new, there are few times that she needed to check with other coworkers. Upon waiting for the receipt, she did the final check with Ms. Tseng who was on the phone with me, she have told me that I did not need the extra paper the other two lady workers asked me to sign without too much attitude. After Ms. Tseng handed me the receipt, I reconfirmed the information the other two workers have told me: it takes about 3 months for the new passport to be picked up and they will call when it is ready for pick up. She nodded as she was doing other things. I thanked her and left with the receipts. Overall, this is a nice place, and I would suggest you go near 9am or 2pm on M/W/F to avoid having to come back or for...

The office was closed due to severe weather on May 17, 2024. The bad weather occurred yesterday, not today, and almost all other companies are open for business except this office. While some schools closed due to the weather, this is not a school, and there are no children working here. If you decide to close, please post a notice on the website earlier, rather than after many visitors have already taken leave from their jobs, driven more than four hours, and spent money on parking and gasoline, only to find a small notice on the front door stating the office is closed today.

I appreciate that someone was still answering urgent phone calls to inform us of the closure. I want to commend the lady who answered the phone and handled many upset and angry visitors. However, the person who decided to close the office without early notice and those unable to come to work, wasting our valuable time and money, should apologize to us. They should offer expedited service during our next visit to compensate for the time lost today. All visitors have urgent matters that need attention; no one visits for no reason. Taiwanese government offices typically provide excellent and friendly service to all, but this office is completely...

I have tried many times to contact the Houston office via phone and email in the past few weeks, even tried the business chat on one of their social platforms (on which they regularly post), but no response to this day.

I would recommend contacting the LA office.

----EDIT---- I thought I should update this review from one star to four since the Houston office actually responded to my call about renewing my Taiwanese passport (and oddly the LA office I recommended earlier did not) through mail and helped me through all the steps. Sharon was very kind making calls to guide me through the process and provide status updates.

I do wish in the future I can get consistent responses when I have to do this again, it seems like getting a hold of the office is still...