Skip Links
U.S. Department of State
Free Markets and Free Trade Open to All  |  Daily Press Briefing | What's NewU.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
SEARCHU.S. Department of State
Subject IndexBookmark and Share
U.S. Department of State
HomeHot Topics, press releases, publications, info for journalists, and morepassports, visas, hotline, business support, trade, and morecountry names, regions, embassies, and morestudy abroad, Fulbright, students, teachers, history, and moreforeign service, civil servants, interns, exammission, contact us, the Secretary, org chart, biographies, and more
Video
 You are in: Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs > Bureau of Public Affairs: Press Relations Office > Press Releases (Other) > 2002 > January 
Media Note
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
January 16, 2002


Chicago Passport Agency Dedicates New Passport Processing System Marking Nationwide Conversion to the Photodigitization Issuance System

The Chicago Passport Agency officially celebrated its relocation and dedicated its new passport issuance system today at a ceremony held at the Kluczynski Federal Building, 230 South Dearborn Street, 18th Floor, Chicago, Illinois.  The Agency recently moved from the 3rd Floor to the 18th Floor of the Federal Building to accommodate the facilities upgrades necessitated by the new issuance system.  At the ceremony, Grant S. Green, Under Secretary of State for Management, and a representative from the office of United States Senator Peter Fitzgerald welcomed state and local government officials, members of the Chicago Federal community and senior officials from the Department of State in Washington, D.C.

 The new issuance system, called “TDIS-Photodigitization,” allows the processing of a technologically advanced passport.  The new passport has many features that make it one of the most secure travel documents produced any where in the world.  The most notable feature is that the passport holder’s photograph is printed as a digital image into the passport.

 The Chicago Passport Agency provides passport service to residents of Illinois and Michigan.  The Agency is the sixteenth and final domestic passport-issuing facility to convert to the photodigitization process.  Since December 2001, all domestic agencies, including Chicago, have been issuing the new photodigitized passport.  The Department of State has begun the process of bringing this new technology to passport applicants who apply abroad. 

 The dedication of the new passport issuance system included a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event with remarks by Under Secretary Green; Mr. Tom Gauza, Director of Constituent Services and Legal Counsel, Office of Senator Peter Fitzgerald; Ambassador Mary A. Ryan, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs; Ms. Georgia A. Rogers, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Passport Services; and Ms. Terry W. Green, Regional Director of the Chicago Passport Agency. 

                                                                                                                           

Information on applying for a passport, including public hours of the Chicago Passport Agency, locations of acceptance facilities, passport application forms and requirements, and other travel-related information can be accessed through the

Department of State’s website at:  http://travel.state.gov


Released on January 16, 2002

  Back to top

U.S. Department of State
USA.govU.S. Department of StateUpdates  |  Frequent Questions  |  Contact Us  |  Email this Page  |  Subject Index  |  Search
The Office of Electronic Information, Bureau of Public Affairs, manages this site as a portal for information from the U.S. State Department. External links to other Internet sites should not be construed as an endorsement of the views or privacy policies contained therein.
About state.gov  |  Privacy Notice  |  FOIA  |  Copyright Information  |  Other U.S. Government Information

Published by the U.S. Department of State Website at http://www.state.gov maintained by the Bureau of Public Affairs.