ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — Good news for people looking to travel abroad in 2024.
The Erie County Clerk's Office tells 2 On Your Side, that the wait time to get a new passport has been cut in half since 2020 bringing it down to pre-pandemic levels.
At one point it took about 16 weeks to get approved. Now it's roughly 6 to 8 weeks, or 2 to 4 weeks for an expedited one.
But Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns warns that if you plan on traveling internationally soon and need a passport start the process now and don't wait.
"If you're looking to travel, I encourage you to get an expedited passport if you're going to be traveling within the next month or so, but we're seeing a faster turnaround, especially post-COVID," Kearns says.
County Clerk Kearns also wants to remind residents of Erie County that no appointments are required to submit first-time passport applications at the county's outreach center in Southgate Plaza.