SAN DIEGO – The United States Postal Service  will hold passport fairs at post offices in San Diego County for first-time passport applicants.   No appointments are necessary.

 If you’re planning to travel abroad in 2016, there are several things travelers should be aware of when it comes to passports:

• Check the expiration date on your U.S. passport. Many countries require that your passport have as much as six months’ validity remaining for entry.
• The Department of State is expecting a surge in passport renewals this year due to millions of passports set to expire. Ten years ago, the United States passed a law requiring its citizens to have a passport for travel to all countries, including Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The increase demand in passport renewals is anticipated to create processing delays. It may now take about six weeks for a passport renewal.
• Adding to the uptick in passport applications is travelers with state driver’s licenses that don’t meet requirements of REAL ID Act – a 2005 law that requires stricter standards for state-issued IDs, including driver’s license. As more states adopt the stricter standards, driver’s licenses may not be adequate proof of identity to allow boarding of a domestic flight. California has an extension allowing federal agencies to accept driver’s license until Oct. 10, 2016. Homeland Security anticipates adoption of this policy at U.S. Airports as soon as January 2018.

Customers have the option of applying for a passport book (good for all international travel) or the passport card (good only for land and sea travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda).

Passport fees

The above fees must be paid with a personal check or money order. (No exceptions!)  In addition to the above costs, there is also a $25 processing/acceptance fee plus a $15 fee for photos, which can be paid for by cash, personal check, debit and credit cards or money order. All of the Post Offices above offer passport photo services.

Travelers are encouraged to apply for a passport several months before they are scheduled to travel overseas. Again, the average time for passport applications and renewals is six weeks. However, for an additional fee, the State Department will expedite the application and process it within three weeks.

To apply for a passport, travelers need to complete Passport Application Form DS-11 (unsigned) and provide one of the following: a U.S. birth certificate from the Department of Vital Statistics (not a certificate of birth) or naturalization papers. Applicants must also show either a valid driver’s license, a previous or current U.S. passport book or card, Certificate of Naturalization, Certificate of Citizenship, military I.D. or a federal, state or municipal government employee I.D. card. Applicants 15 & under must be present with both parents unless consent is given; ages 16 & 17 require only one parent be present.                                                                                                                                                      

For more information about passport application requirements and to download forms, visit the State Department’s travel website at www.travel.state.gov.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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