Some US Passport And Visas Services To Accept Bitcoin

The move marks one of the first times a government-adjacent service has embraced cryptocurrency payments. "Offering travellers the ability to pay via Bitcoin feels like the right move at the right time," said Evan James, Peninsula Visa's chief operating officer. James added that he expects travel and transportation to resume normal activity in the coming months.

The timing matters. Passport backlogs have plagued the State Department throughout the pandemic. When federal offices began closing in March, passport processing ground to a halt. By September, the LA Times documented roughly one million unprocessed applications.

The agency started reopening offices in recent weeks. On November 3, the State Department said standard passport applications would now take 10 to 12 weeks, with expedited processing at 4 to 6 weeks. Before the pandemic, the same applications took one week.

Peninsula Visa's Bitcoin option signals a shift in how government services approach payments, though private companies have led the way in adopting cryptocurrency. Few federal agencies have moved in this direction, making Peninsula Visa's announcement notable for a travel services provider working with government processes.