Gyeonggi Province Transfers Passport Services to Suwon City...'Can't Handle It at Provincial Level Anymore'

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province will transfer passport services to Suwon City starting July 20. Previously, the province transferred the Northern Branch Office passport services to Uijeongbu City as of January 6. With this service transfer, all 31 municipalities and counties in Gyeonggi Province will now handle passport services.

Gyeonggi Province proceeded with the service transfer after determining that it is more efficient for the relevant municipalities and counties to handle passport civil affairs services, which are closely related to residents' daily lives. The province has been coordinating with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Suwon City since last year, and the passport service transfer was finalized after reaching an agreement with Suwon City in early this year.

Starting July 20, Suwon City will provide passport civil services as before at the Passport Civil Affairs Center located next to the World Cup Stadium. Operating hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, with the center closed on weekends and holidays. To provide convenience for office workers who find it difficult to visit during business hours, the center will extend its hours until 9 p.m. on two days each week—Mondays and Wednesdays.

Suwon City plans to minimize inconvenience to citizens by increasing the number of service windows through remodeling of the Passport Civil Affairs Center to match the number of windows at the Gyeonggi Province Government Office.

Additionally, for those who submitted their passports to the Gyeonggi Province Government Office before July 20 but have not picked them up, they should be aware that from July 20 onward, they can retrieve their passports at the Passport Civil Affairs Center in Uman-dong, not at the Gyeonggi Province Government Office.

A provincial official stated, "We are transferring passport services in accordance with the policy direction of Governor Lee Jae-myung of his seventh elected term, which emphasizes that civil affairs closely related to residents' daily lives should be transferred to relevant municipalities and counties to enhance efficiency," and added, "We will continue to make efforts to provide civil services that are more accessible and empathetic to our residents."