'Suwon Passport Office' to Begin Operations from the 20th of This Month

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Passport services transferred to Suwon City from Gyeonggi Province will commence on the 20th of this month.

According to the city, the building that previously served as the Gyeonggi Province Passport Office will be used as the Suwon Passport Office (336 World Cup-ro, Paldal-gu, adjacent to Suwon World Cup Stadium). Instead, the city will expand passport service counters and enlarge the citizen waiting area for operations. Due to COVID-19, the opening ceremony will be omitted.

Accordingly, from the 20th of next month, passports can be issued or received at the Suwon Passport Office during business hours from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays (extended until 9 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays). Additionally, services including same-day emergency passport issuance and notation of previous passport numbers and other metropolitan-level passport services are available. Citizens who applied for a passport at the Gyeonggi Province Open Citizen Service Center before the 20th of this month but have not yet picked it up can receive it at the Suwon Passport Office from the 20th onward.

The city is currently preparing to provide a service on the Suwon City Hall website where citizens can check 'real-time waiting status' at the Suwon Passport Office. Visitors can check waiting conditions before visiting the office and avoid congested times.

Additionally, the city is preparing a 'KakaoTalk-based waiting number alert service,' the first of its kind in Gyeonggi Province. Citizens can use their smartphones to receive turn notifications even outside the passport office.

The city expects this will reduce crowding at the passport office.