Stepping Out Of Line Eases Stepped Up Demand

Saturday Postal Express Lanes For Passports Keep Pace

For Connecticut residents, Saturday is a great day to get out of line at a Post Office for a passport. That means this Saturday.

Or next Saturday. And, at a post office near you, probably on another Saturday very soon.

For today’s busy families, Saturday express lanes for passport acceptance are a first-class hit as Nutmeg State residents continue to look for the traditional passport book, the new passport card or both. To keep pace with demand, local post offices are providing a number of options, such as

• On Saturday, Feb. 16, Darien postal employees will accept passports at the Darien Library, 35 Leroy Avenue, from 9 am until noon. Also on Saturday, about 50 miles north, the Woodbury Post Office will visit the Woodbury Public Library, 269 Main Street South, from 10 am to 2 pm to process passport applications.
• On Saturday, Feb. 23, the Danbury Post Office will provide passport acceptance at the Ridgefield Parks & Recreation Center from 2 pm to 5 pm. Also that Saturday, the Middletown Post Office will accept passports at the Russell Library, 123 Broad Street, from 9 am to 1 pm.
• Passport applications for brides (and grooms) will be provided by the Hartford Post Office at the Feb. 24th Hartford Bridal Show at the XL Center from 11 am to 3 pm.
• The Old Greenwich Post Office delivers its passport acceptance program to the Perrot Library on Saturday, Mar. 1, 2008 from 9 am to 4 pm.
• And on Saturday, Mar. 8, more than 70 post offices across Connecticut will provide extended hours and staffing for passport acceptance services. In many of those locations, on-site photos will be available as well.

Postal officials note that expanded acceptance opportunities provide valuable community services as more Americans seek passports. In the Postal Service’s Connecticut District, 126 post offices accepted nearly 148,000 passports last year. Nationwide, the State Department expected to process about 17 million passports in 2007.

The Postal Service acts as an acceptance agent for nearly 67 percent of all passports. Today, more than 74 million Americans now have valid U.S. passports.

The new passport card may again boost the passport market. The wallet sized card is valid for land and sea crossings between the US and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Applications for the card were opened earlier in February, with the first cards scheduled for delivery this spring.

“The card may not be used to travel by air” cautions the Connecticut District Manager for the Postal Service, Edward F. Phelan, Jr. “If you only have a passport card on a trip or cruise and an emergency requires you to fly home, you will not be able to re-enter the country. That’s why the familiar passport book is still an appropriate document for most travelers.”
The card has the same lifespan as passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for youth 15 and younger.
February brought changes in fees for passports, including:

• Passport Book Age 16 and Over: $75 for the passport; $25 processing fee to the accepting office, like the Post Office
• Passport Book Age 15 and Under: $60 passport; $25 processing
• Passport book by mail: $75
• Passport Card Age 16 and Over: $20 card; $25 processing (except where an applicant has a fully valid passport book and applies for the passport card by mail)
• Passport Card Age 15 and Under: $10 card; $25 processing

Payments are made separately to the Department of State and to the acceptance agent.

Postal officials note that passport forms will be available at all locations. Applicants may also download passport forms from www.usps.com.

Each applicant needs to present proof of US Citizenship by supplying a certified birth certificate with a registrar's raised, embossed, impressed or multicolored seal. Others may need to obtain a consular report of birth abroad or a naturalization certificate.

Those applying also need proof of identity which can include a previous U.S. passport, a Naturalization Certificate, a valid Driver's license, a Government ID or Military ID issued to military personnel. All passport applicants also must provide a Social Security number, including infants.