The 17 staffers out of the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco took 200 appointments Saturday and 200 Sunday, primarily helping people renew passports, but also with other services. The consulate is scheduled to return for another 400 appointments in August. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo
The Maui News
After a two-year pause from traveling to the Valley Isle due to the COVID-19 pandemic, representatives from the Mexican Consulate took hundreds of appointments at the Maui Economic Opportunity building in Wailuku on Saturday and Sunday.
MEO Community Services Director Cassi Yamashita said that there were about 200 appointments Saturday and 200 Sunday, with an additional 40 or so walk-ins both days, for families and individuals needing assistance with passport renewals, birth certificate retrievals from Mexico, civil registry and other important services.
“What I can say is that when the consulate themselves opened up their appointment (portal) for about a half an hour last week prior to them coming and setting up, all 200 appointments were booked within that half hour,” Yamashita said on Sunday afternoon via phone. “Passport service is definitely the most demanded due to time sensitivity.”
Though mostly everyone who attended the event over the weekend was served by the staffers out of the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco, folks who were not able to get their passports renewed will have to fly to California complete the process.
Coinciding with the consulate visit, Yamashita said that MEO organized the Hispanic Heritage Resource Fair on Saturday to provide an opportunity for the community to ask questions and receive information on services ranging from legal to food availability.
Despite some rain, the festival had a good turnout, she said.
The consulate is scheduled to return for another 400 appointments in August and the Guatemalan Consulate is slated to conduct appointments in April.
The 17 staffers out of the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco took 200 appointments Saturday and 200 Sunday, primarily helping people renew passports, but also with other services. The consulate is scheduled to return for another 400 appointments in August. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photoToday's breaking news and more in your inbox
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7rq3UoqWer6NjsLC5jqecsKtfobykrctmpZ6vo2R%2FcX6RaGdsZ52axaqvwKdknKeeqMKtrdOeZKudpKq%2Fr7%2BMraZmpZGqtm6txa2cq2WkrLxuxcSaqaxn