More and more South Valley residents are applying for passports
since a federal law passed requiring them for all air travel
outside the United States.
More and more South Valley residents are applying for passports since a federal law passed requiring them for all air travel outside the United States.
An increase in applicants means an increase in revenue to two of the four passport processing stations in South Valley.
But these increases, gained by Morgan Hill and Gilroy’s city clerks’ offices, do not translate into more revenue for the two cities. The offices have recently outfitted their facilities with more trained staff, windows and services to accommodate the expected influx. Station officials expect the increases to continue, or for revenue to at least remain steady, because federal law will require a passport for all travel outside the United States, including land and sea, beginning June 1, 2009.
City Clerks Irma Torres of Morgan Hill and Shawna Freels of Gilroy say there are many possible reasons for the increases, but that the most likely is the new law, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The law requires people who travel via airplane to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean to have a passport.
“Things are still shaking out from the 2007 law,” Freels said, referring to the Jan. 23, 2007 date the law was enacted. Both city clerks’ offices experienced spikes in passport processing revenue since the 2005 fiscal year, around the time when the law’s announcement was made, and its 2007 deadline.
The Gilroy City Clerk’s office drew a 90 percent increase in revenue from passport processing for 2007.
The Morgan Hill City Clerk’s Office received similarly high revenues for the 2007 fiscal year, with an increase of 60 percent from 2006.
Morgan Hill doesn’t expect an increase this year, Torres said, because there has been a federal mandate to decrease agency fees, from $30 to $25. Applicants also pay a federal fee, which increased from $67 to $75. Passport photos cost between $7 and $10.
South Valley residents, Freels said, are well traveled. She’s seen applicants looking to travel to Spain, Portugal and school trips to France. But those are typical passport applicants; those who regularly travel exclusively within North America never needed a passport before, and are now clamoring to get one.
So far, people traveling to or from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean by land or sea still don’t need a passport. A valid I.D. and birth certificate, and a few other options, can be used for those who don’t yet have a passport.
Aside from the city clerks’ offices, Morgan Hill and Gilroy’s post offices also provide passport processing, but on a much smaller scale.
Comparably, Morgan Hill and Gilroy’s post offices have seen decreased passport processing revenues thanks to each city’s clerks offices upping their visibility, staffing and facilities for the service.
Morgan Hill passport revenue
2005: $35,750
2006: $47,859
2007: $78,980
Gilroy passport revenue
2005: $29,400
2006: $28,950
2007: $55,050
