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Passport service new to CSULB

Teresa Ruiz(left), public affairs communication specialist for the CSU Chancellor's Office, writes a check for her passport application at the Career Development Center's new passport office Monday evening. Erin Booth (center), internship counselor, looks on as Deanna Granada, a passport acceptance agent, fills in the document.

Cal State Long Beach may be becoming a one-stop shop.

CSULB opened the U.S. Passport Application Acceptance Office in Brotman Hall on Thursday, offering students, faculty and staff the opportunity to conveniently get papers to cross international borders.

“It’s totally convenient. I’d renew mine there,” said Brandon Porsandeh, a social work graduate student.

 

“A passport is the key to exploring the world and to becoming ‘globally capable,’ and I want our students to have that key and the opportunities that will certainly follow,” said Douglas Robinson, vice president of student services.

The office opened on Thursday, but some students haven’t heard the news.

 

“I hadn’t even heard of it,” Mikella Etchegoyen, a freshman creative writing major, said. “But it would probably be easier having it on campus.”

“It’s a good idea, but no one knows about it,” said sophomore business major Craig Chorpenning.

 

Members of the CSULB community can make an appointment for U.S. passport renewal, expedited processing and passport changes. Passport photos can be taken in the office and cost $15.

“That’s cheap,” said Brook Brandom, a social work grad student. “I paid $50 [for my photos].”

 

The office also handles individuals who have lost their personal information or had it stolen.

An online passport application is also available through the office’s website passport.csulb.edu.

 

According to Robinson, CSULB first considered offering passport services over 10 years ago. “I allowed myself to be talked out of implementing the program back in the early 1990s,” he said.

The passport office is on the second floor of Brotman Hall in Room 205 as part of the Career Development Center. Office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The office is closed Fridays, weekends and university holidays.  

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1 Comment

  1. What place charges $50 for photos?? Walgreens and Longs charge $8 each for two photos, and they’re pretty much everywhere (there’s two within two miles of each other near my place). Even then, my mom devised a way to make them even cheaper – take a picture with her camera and then crop that to 2 by 2 inches. Costs 19 cents and the US government accepted it.

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