Western Passport Center — Local services in Tucson

This is a tough review to give because you have to know what you're doing and even if you do, things can go wrong at any time. But under the circumstances, we were happy with our experience here. The short version is, they will only let you in 30 minutes before your appointment, there is nowhere to wait outside except under a shaded canvas (not helpful in the extreme high heat), security guards were ruder than they needed to be, inside staff were excellent and highly efficient. . . Long version: Discovered our daughter's passport had expired three days before a very critical trip. Contacted the emergency passport line only to hear that there were very limited appointments available across the country. We live in Houston and decided the 12:30 appointment in Tucson would be the most feasible (compared to 9:30 a.m. in El Paso or Buffalo New York). Landed in Tucson at 10:30 and took a Uber straight to the building only to find out they would not let us in before 12:00 p.m. The security was unnecessarily rude when conveying this information and it's confusing when you show up and the doors are locked. We took the same Uber back to a close by McDonald's to wait.

Came back at 12:00 p.m. Fortunately the night before we had obtained all the documents we needed. Printed copy of the official passport form (Do not sign it)

Notarized permission form from Parent A allowing Parent B to get the child's passport.

Copy of parent A's identification that was used in step 2. (They will check and confirm everything is accurate).

Printed copy of travel documents showing travel within next few days.

Printed copy of letter from doctor or hospital in case of medical emergency

One passport photo of the person that needs the passport

Original birth certificate

Credit card, or debit card, (possibly check) for the fees. Our fees totaled $195 but this will change depending on what product you need.

Once we got there at 12:00 p.m., It was a short line and we saw the first official who made sure we had all the paperwork. A few minutes later We went to the next person who reviewed everything carefully and made us swear to the truth. I explained that we were trying to get out on the evening flight from Tucson airport. They put us in "waiting" status and within two and a half hours, we had the passport in hand.

The waiting area was clean and had one or two outlets. You are allowed to use your phone but not to speak to anyone. There was also a restroom inside.

Obviously there are no guarantees to this timeline depending on how busy they are and what is happening for them. But we were able to get back to the airport and take the evening flight out.

Our Uber driver shared that people were flying in from all over the country and other countries to get passports renewed here, so it seems like a...

Thank you to all the previous reviews about this location, they were 100% accurate! Yesterday, I came as a walk-in, lined up at 0815, at 0830 security came out & said appointments had priority, then walk-ins. After about 6 appointments went in, I was allowed in around 0845. Was all done in 10 minutes, came back at 1130 to pick it up!! Everyone was so nice & helpful, can't thank them enough!!

Last week, we booked a last minute Caribbean cruise over Christmas. My passport doesn't expire until 6/15/2022, but learned that your passport expiration has to be more than 6 months from your return travel date... So my passport will be 5 months & 2 weeks from expiration by the time our cruise would return, therefore I wouldn't be allowed on the cruise at all! Apparently this is a strict rule with any international travel, explanation I was given was that in case you are detained abroad, you'll have plenty of time to arrange your travel back. Website said it's recommended to renew your passport around 9 months from expiration (wish this instruction was printed in the passport, it is now in the newer one).

Expedited renewals through the mail would take 5-7 weeks. In person renewals have become tricky due to the pandemic, now you can't just walk-in. You have to call their national scheduling number, who said none of the locations allowed walk-ins. They also said each location is different, they could not guarantee that you would walk out with your new passport in hand, might be overnighted to you. You cannot call for an appointment until within 2 weeks of your departure date, & your appointment can only be scheduled for the 3 days prior to your departure date. Cutting it very close! Most locations fill up quickly, only appointment in my area was Tucson the day of our flight to Miami, the day before our cruise departure. While googling this location for nearby hotels, I happened to read the reviews that they did allow walk-ins, thank god they were true!!

Tips for other walk-in renewals: Check the passport website to know what documents you need to bring ahead of time. Print your application & complete it prior. Don't forget the photo! (they don't do it at office) Bring your travel itineraries, I brought flight & cruise info. Bring your...

My daughter is studying abroad and the foreign consulate still had her passport and couldn't give us an ETA on the issuance of her student visa and didn't care that we had flight, hotel, and train tickets booked and were scheduled to leave in less than a week. When I actually got ahold of someone at the consulate their response was "well I guess you will have to change your plans!" The school counselor advised us of the Western Passport Center. We got an appointment next day and drove to Tucson. They could not issue her a student visa but they did issue her a secondary passport same day. We got there at 8:30am and her secondary passport was ready by 2pm. Everyone there was so amazing, nice, efficient, and helpful. She was so emotional and they told her everything was going to be ok, they were going to help her.

We went there with all of our paperwork in order. Proof of her study abroad college acceptance, copies of student visa application, confirmation of our flight/hotel/train, D-82 passport renewal form, written explanation of why we didn't have her current passport, previous expired passport, birth certificate, SS card, drivers license, student id...basically anything and everything we could think of so we didn't get there and get turned away.

There were people there who had drove in/flew in from CA, NM, TX and UT. All with various emergencies and this office treated everyone with kindness and compassion. Everyone is quick to speak bad about our government agencies but I am so grateful the US has this office available. It is efficient, takes credit cards for payments and has amazing people working there. Unlike the foreign consulate who has an archaic system, no way to track a visa in process, only accepts phone calls 1 hour a day, which makes it next to impossible to get anyone on the phone, doesn't return an email and could care less that you have thousands of dollars invested into your upcoming visit.

Yes we were there almost all day, but after our 8:30 am appointment, we drove to a nearby breakfast place - Prep and Pastry - highly recommend - ran some errands for her upcoming trip and came back after noon and only had to wait another hour or so for her passport to be ready. Truly the best outcome and...