How to Get a Passport in Nashville Tennessee : visasupply.com

Editor's Note: U.S. passports are currently taking up to seven weeks to process using the government's expedited service. It is possible to get a passport in less time by scheduling an appointment with the Passport Agency by calling 877-487-2778 and appearing in person at their office.

A growing number of Nashville residents are obtaining U.S. passports as international travel grows, especially among employees of large companies with a strong presence in the area. While “Music City USA” is best known as an entertainment and tourism center, Nashville’s economy is also driven by the health care, supply chain management, supply chain management, and advanced manufacturing industries.

Tennessee has become a major vehicle manufacturing center in recent years, with Nissan North America and General Motors ranking among the Nashville region’s largest employers. GM and Ford are also building new operations to support electric vehicles. Dozens of other automotive manufacturing suppliers in Tennessee (including tire manufacturers Bridgestone Americas and Hankook Tire) also do business around the world, either importing manufactured goods from East Asia or exporting finished products to North America and the Caribbean. In fact, the Tennessee automotive cluster includes four major assembly plants and there are automobile-related operations in 88 of the state’s 95 counties. Since many of these manufacturers have their corporate headquarters in Europe and Asia, they also send their Tennessee-based employees overseas for training—all of whom require passports to make this international journey.

The state of Tennessee’s strong economy and growing population are also contributing factors to the increased demand for new passports. Of Tennessee’s 6.9 million residents in 2022, some 683,000 lived in the city of Nashville and two million lived in the 14-county Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro-Franklin metropolitan statistical area (Cannon, Cheatham, Davidson, Dickson, Hickman, Macon, Maury, Robertson, Rutherford, Smith, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson, and Wilson counties). In 2022 the U.S. Passport Agency issued 240,686 passports to residents of Tennessee, a slight increase over 2018’s 240,387 passports.

As Tennessee’s largest metropolitan area, Nashville’s economic engine has driven the state’s growth in recent years. Five Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in metro Nashville: HCA Healthcare, Dollar General, Community Health Services, Delek US Holdings (energy), and Tractor Supply Company. In 2023, Nashville climbed to fourth place in the Milken Institute rankings of the best-performing large cities. Milken noted the health care industry accounted for 328,000 jobs and almost $67 billion each year, while the city’s high-tech job growth exceeded national averages over the previous five years. In 2022, Nashville broke its own tourism records with almost $9 billion in visitor spending.

Nashville International Airport (BNA) is the largest and busiest airport in Tennessee, with 20 major carriers transporting 20 million passengers to 585 destinations annually. Nashville is also known as the “Athens of the South” because it is home to numerous colleges and universities. Vanderbilt University, Belmont University, Lipscomb University, Fisk University, and Tennessee State University are all located within the city, while Middle Tennessee State University in nearby Murfreesboro has the second-largest undergraduate enrollment in the state. Many of these schools offer international study opportunities that further boost the need for passports.

Nashville also has two religious nicknames derived from its vast network of faith-based institutions. With more than 700 churches, the “Buckle of the Bible Belt” ranks as the U.S. city with the most churches per capita. It has also been called “The Protestant Vatican”, as the city is home to the headquarters of two denominations (the United Methodist Church and the Southern Baptist Convention), as well as the world’s largest bible publisher (Thomas Nelson) and the largest distributor (Gideon’s International). The largest number of religious institutions means many churches and denominations regularly send their members on mission trips around the world. Overall, the Nashville region’s strong economy and population growth means that more Tennessee residents have the means to travel internationally for business and/or pleasure.

To travel abroad, adults (ages 16 and up) need a U.S. passport. The passport is good for 10 years, after which it must be renewed. To obtain a new passport or renew an existing one, you will have to appear in person at an authorized passport acceptance facility. Employees at these government facilities will verify your identity and your documentation. You will also have to appear in person if:

You previously held a child’s passport (only good for five years);
Your passport expired more than five years ago; or
Your passport has been lost or damaged.

In Nashville, there are three options to obtain a new passport: visit a local passport acceptance facility; drive to the Passport Agency in downtown Atlanta or Hot Springs, Arkansas (by appointment only); or, in certain circumstances, use a private passport service such as Visa Supply to expedite delivery.

(NOTE: If you already have an adult passport in your possession that is in good condition, and it expired less than five years ago (or has yet to expire and you wish to renew), click here to learn how to renew a passport: https://www.visasupply.com/passports-and-visas-101/post/passport-renewal-in-atlanta.

Option 1: Appear at an Acceptance Facility

The most common way to obtain a passport is visiting a passport acceptance facility. This link allows you to find the closest facility to your home or office: https://iafdb.travel.state.gov. Tennessee residents can visit one of the local county courthouses that serve as a passport acceptance facility. One highly-recommended location is the Robertson County Clerk of Court (https://www.robertsoncountytn.gov/local_government/county_clerk/permits___info/passport_information.php) about 30 miles north of Nashville, which does not require an appointment. The courthouse will even take your passport photo for $10.

The basic form for a new passport (DS-11) is available online at https://pptform.state.gov/. You can complete the form online and then print it out, and take with you to the acceptance facility. (Do NOT sign the passport form in advance, as the government agent must witness your signature.) You may also fill out the DS-11 form by hand at the passport acceptance facility.

You will submit supporting documentation along with form DS-11. The required documents include:

Your long-form birth certificate or a government-certified copy of that certificate. {If you need to order a new copy of your birth certificate, we recommend using VitalChek (https://www.vitalchek.com), a private company with an easy-to-use process and less expensive rates.}
For naturalized citizens, their original certificate of naturalization.
State-issued driver’s license.
One photo that meets all passport image criteria, and properly attached to the application. (See https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/photos.html.)
A check or money payable to the U.S. Department of State. The basic passport fee is $130. Additional charges apply for expedited service and other options. For a full list of fees, please visit https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/how-apply/fees.html.
Another $35 payable via check, money order, cash or debit card to be paid to the passport acceptance facility for the identity verification process. (Check with the specific facility for the exact forms of payment they accept.)

Passport acceptance facilities are government offices but they do not actually issue the passport. These facilities will verify your documents and forward them to the State Department’s Passport Agency. The normal turnaround time for renewals by mail is eight to eleven weeks. Expedited service within seven weeks is available for an added fee. You can also pay extra for return delivery in two days (rather than the typical first-class mailing).

Option2: Apply in Person at a U.S. Passport Agency

If you need to travel within the next month, you will need to apply in person at a federal passport office. Nashville does not have a federal passport office, so the closest locations are the U.S. Passport Agency in Atlanta or the Arkansas Passport Center. The downtown Atlanta office at 230 Peachtree Street is a four-hour drive from Nashville, while the Arkansas office at 191 Office Park Drive in the town of Hot Springs is about five and a half hours away. You can ONLY apply in person here if you can prove the need to travel within the next two weeks – or four weeks if you are traveling to a country that requires a visa. You will need to fill out Form DS-11 and make an appointment directly with either office by calling 877-487-2778. Note that the agencies are busy during the summer travel season and around the holidays, so give yourself plenty of lead time.

For your appointment, bring the identification listed above, as well as:

Your appointment confirmation number
Proof of travel plans, such as your flight itinerary, hotel reservation or cruise tickets
One passport photo
Methods of payment. The agency takes major credit cards, debit cards, cash, checks and money orders. In addition to normal costs, there is an additional $60 expediting fee.

Contact information, directions and other details about the Atlanta Passport Agency are available at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies/atlanta.html. The link that shows the details about the Arkansas Passport Center is https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports/get-fast/passport-agencies/arkansas.html.

Visiting the Passport Agency is more expensive and may be less convenient than using an acceptance facility when you factor in the added costs for transportation and your time. However, if you need a passport quickly, it is worth the extra effort. Unlike a passport acceptance facility, the Passport Agency can issue your new passport – often on the same day or the following day.

Option 3: Use a Private Passport Service

The third option is to use a private passport expediter such as Visa Supply to speed up the turnaround time. For this option, you still need to visit a passport acceptance facility so a government official can verify your identity and documents. Normally the facility can only forward your documents to the State Department for processing. However, if you are using a courier service such as Visa Supply, the acceptance facility will seal your documents in an envelope and return them to you. You will then take that envelope back to our office so we can ship it to one of our couriers in San Francisco, Seattle, Houston, or Washington, D.C., so we can expedite your passport application.

Our office is located in Atlanta, which is about a 4-hour drive from Nashville. If you want Visa Supply to help you, it is usually better to visit our office in-person so we can take your passport photo; help you prepare your DS-11 application; plus review your documentation. You can take these documents to the DeKalb County Clerk of Superior Court in Decatur (about a 30-minute drive from our office), and then return the sealed envelope to Visa Supply so we can expedite your application with the Passport Agency.

Since Visa Supply is a private company, we charge a fee for our services (in addition to the government’s $190 expedite fee for a passport book). Beyond the convenience of using our office, we make sure your application form is filled out correctly. We also take your passport photo and will ensure that it meets the government’s specifications. Our basic service starts at $100. Customers receive their new passport (along with the old one) within seven weeks; for additional fees we can also get passports renewed in as fast as one week. Please call us for the latest details.

Residents of Nashville with questions about obtaining a new U.S. passport can schedule a telephone call through our website. Our free consultation will explain the process of getting a passport and help you understand the different options for getting a passport based on your international travel plans.