Marandah Mangra-Dutcher, The Daily Iowan
Students can now renew or apply for passports on campus.
The University of Iowa International Programs will open a passport station for students and the surrounding community, joining the list of resources for study abroad programs offered by UI International Programs.
Russell Ganim, associate provost and dean of UI International Programs, said the program has wanted to open a station at the UI since 2014. The passport acceptance facility opens Nov. 17 in the Old Capital Mall.
“The University of Iowa applied for approval to become a U.S. passport acceptance facility,” he said. “And we were turned down. I’m not exactly sure what the reasons were, but we did fill out an application that we sent to the U.S. Department of State and were denied.”
After the application was turned down, the International Programs office worked toward different goals instead, Ganim said. At the beginning of the pandemic, however, Ganim and his team decided to try the application process again.