Lansing MI - For those planning a trip out of the country soon and needing a passport, the U. S. Postal Service will be helping by hosting a Passport Fair on Saturday, July 17 from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Lansing Main Post Office, 4800 Collins Rd. The Passport Fair will take place within the customer lobby.

“With new passport requirements in place, the Postal Service has made it more convenient for customers to travel internationally by promoting our passport application services that are available at over 100 postal locations in Michigan,” says A/Postmaster Jon Scott.

The Post Office always recommends coming in as early as possible to apply for a passport — at least three months or earlier before your departure — to avoid any extra costs to expedite an application.

As of June 1, 2009, U.S. Citizens entering or re-entering the United States will require a valid Passport. Also, the U.S. Department of State announced that new passport fees will be effective July 13th. The new fees will be:

Adult Passport Book (Age 16 and over) - Passport Fee $110 + Acceptance Fee $25 = $135
Adult Passport Card (Age 16 and over)- Passport Fee $30 + Acceptance Fee $25 = $55
Minor Passport Book (Age 15 and under)- Passport Fee $80 + Acceptance Fee $25 = $85
Child Passport Card (Age 15 and under)- Passport Fee $15 + Acceptance Fee $25 = $40

For Expedited passport service, $60 should be added for each application, payable to the State Department. Two-way overnight delivery is strongly encouraged.

To help the Passport Fair application process go smoothly and efficiently, the Postal Service recommends the following:

• Bring in proper proof of American citizenship. This must be either: a certified birth certificate issued by the city, county or state; a previous U.S. passport; a certificate of citizenship; or a naturalization certificate. (Please note: a hospital-issued birth certificate alone is not acceptable.)
• Bring in proof of identity. This must be either: a previous U.S. passport; a naturalization certificate; a certificate of citizenship; or a current valid driver’s license, government ID or military photo ID.
• The passport application requires two recent identical photographs of you, which the Passport fair sites will take for a fee of $15.00 each.
• To save time, you can download a passport application at www.usps.com/passport to complete your application beforehand.

Customers can also call 800-ASK-USPS to get the location of other area passport Post Offices and their passport customer service hours, or they can visit the State Department’s web site at www.travel.state.gov.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.