The Arlington County Sister City Association recently teamed up with the consulate of El Salvador to provide passport services to Salvadoran nationals living in Arlington and surrounding areas.
More than 50 community members were able to obtain their Salvadoran passports during the Oct. 15 event.
Orlando Gamarra, who chairs the San Miguel committee of the Arlington Sister City Association, and other members of the committee assisted the consulate throughout the event.
“It was a great honor to have the Salvadoran consulate come to serve our community in Arlington, it saved people from having to travel to Woodbridge. The mobile consulate was convenient, flexible and accessible,” said Lily Caballero-Torres, a member Arlington Sister City-San Miguel committee.
The San Miguel committee looks forward to having the Salvadoran mobile consulate available to Arlington residents at least once a year.
“We are very thankful to Manfredo Mejia, owner of Atlacatl restaurant and an Arlington Sister City Association sponsor, for hosting this event at his establishment,” organizers said.
San Miguel, one of the largest cities in El Salvador, is one of a number of formal Sister Cities of Arlington, a group that also includes Aachen (Germany), Reims (France) and Ivano-Frankivsk (Ukraine). The Sister City relationship between Arlington and Coyoacan, Mexico, currently is in “emeritus” status but could be resurrected.