U.S.P.S. to Jointly Host Passport Fair with Congressman Lamar Smith at Encino Park Station

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — The San Antonio Post Office and the office of Congressman Lamar Smith will jointly host a passport fair opened to the public at the Encino Park Station located at 20403 Encino Ledge, S.A., TX., 78259, from 8:00 a.m. until 2 p.m., on Saturday, January 12, 2008, according to San Antonio Officer-In-Charge (OIC) Fina Morales.

Morales reminds customers that regulations now require a valid passport for citizens traveling in and out of the U.S. and that by Summer 2008, passports will be required for all land and sea travelers between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central, South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

“Customers need to prepare in advance, because of the increase in workload. Routine passport processing may take up to eight weeks, and we want to help customers receive their passports in plenty of time for their trip.” Morales stated.

The current Passport fees are as follow: $97 each for citizens who are 16 or older and $82 each for children under age 16 (minors under 14 must apply in person with both parent/guardian). Passport applications will be provided at the Fair; however, to complete the application prior to attending, customers may visit the postal website at: www.usps.com/passport.

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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.