Any Oberlin student, faculty or staff member or town resident will have the chance to get a passport or renew an old one in one stop on Wednesday, April 6 when the Lorain County Passports Office, with the help of the College, brings all the elements needed for a passport together at the Oberlin Inn.

“We established a program where we can deliver passports to students in the most convenient way,” said Ken Burkhard of the Lorain County Passports Office, the main coordinator for the event.

“The county has been extremely cooperative in doing this,” said Al Moran, vice president for College relations, who has helped the county coordinate this event. “They have created one-stop passport shopping, and they’re bringing it to us.”

The County agreed to hold the event after the College’s Spring Break so that students have a chance to go home and get certified copies of their birth certificates, which is required, along with a form of identification like a driver’s license. In addition, clerks will be available from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. to provide students with a broad range of time in which to work around classes and jobs.

Burkhard encourages anyone interested in getting a passport to fill out the application form, which can be found online at www.travel.state.gov/passport/forms/forms_847.html before they come in order to expedite the process.

The students should wait to sign the application before a deputy clerk. Burkhard said the rest of the process should take between 15 and 20 minutes.

“On April 6, you can walk into the Oberlin Inn, take a photo, hand in the form, give them the check and get out of there,” said Moran.

The passport, due to a recently added surcharge, will cost $97 and must be paid through a check or money order. There will also be a $10 charge for the photograph. Once the application is submitted, the passport will arrive in two to six weeks.

“You should have the passport in your hand before summer break,” Burkhard said.

According to Burkhard, the idea for the event was Ron Nabakowski’s, the Lorain County clerk of Court of Common Pleas.

“Ron’s idea is that we’re taking the government to the people,” said Burkhard. The idea for the passport day stems from a similar event that was organized about 15 years ago.

The students, faculty and staff make Oberlin College the largest client of the County Passports office, according to Moran. This year, 28 passports have been issued, and Burkhard estimates that at least one half of these are College-related.

“The county is bringing the world to Oberlin,” Moran said. “Or at least access to the world.”