Summer Plans Require Spring Planning

Wellsburg Post Office to Host Saturday Passport Fair

What:
Passport fair at the Wellsburg Post Office

When:
Saturday, April 26, 2008 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Where:
Wellsburg Post Office, 3685 Front Street

Background:
Summer plans require spring planning. And applying for a U.S. passport book or card now will ensure that there's one less bump in the road when it comes to traveling outside of the United States.

The Wellsburg Post Office is hosting a Saturday passport fair to assist customers in the application process. The special Saturday hours make it more convenient for families with children to apply, especially since both parents need to be present.

Wellsburg Postmaster Susan Lynch and Lowman Postmaster Cathy Johnson are teaming up for the event.

"It generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to receive the passport book," says Postmaster Lynch. "Customers also have the option of applying for a passport card, which is less expensive but good only for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean region and the Bermuda. For some Western New Yorkers, the passport card may meet their travel needs."

The cost for an adult passport book is $100; the passport card is $45. Both are good for ten years. If an adult already has a valid passport book, the cost of obtaining a passport card drops to $25.

Postmaster Johnson encourages customers to take advantage of the discount for passport photos when taken the day of the fair. "The normal photo price is $15," she says, "but on April 26 the price for the photo is $10."

The Postal Service recommends that customers visit the passport agency website at www.travel.state.gov to get the list of required documents and a print out of the passport application. A pre-completed passport application expedites the process when the customer gets to the Post Office.

Contact:
Karen Mazurkiewicz at 716-846-2375.

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation, 146 million homes and businesses, six days a week. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.