PORT WILLIAM, OH — If you’re leaving the country, there’s a chance that you might need a passport. Now the Port William Post Office can help. The office was recently certified as a U.S. passport acceptance site and will begin accepting passport applications on Tuesday, Oct. 12.

“We are happy to provide a valuable service that is convenient for our customers,” said Officer in Charge Jessica Maggard. “Acceptance of passport applications is yet another way we can serve the residents of Port William and surrounding towns.”

The Port William Post Office, located at 227 Main St., will accept passport applications during regular business hours: 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 4:15 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Customers have the option of applying for a passport book, good for all international travel or the 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 Bermuda.

The cost for an adult passport book is $135; the adult passport card is $55. Both are good for ten years. Adult renewals are $110 and $30, respectively. The cost for a child’s (under age 16) passport book is $105; a child’s passport card is $40.

To help the passport application process, the Postal Service recommends the following:

• Bring in proper proof of American citizenship. This must be either a certified birth certificate (not a copy) 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.

Travelers are encouraged to apply for a passport several months before they are scheduled to travel overseas. A passport application is normally processed by the State Department within five to six weeks. However, for an additional fee, the State Department will expedite the application and process it within there business days, and for those who need speedy delivery, the U.S. Postal Service offers Express Mail next day delivery both to and from the State Department.

Information on passports and how to apply can be found at www.usps.com/passport/ or travel.state.gov. U.S. citizens may also obtain passport information by phone, in English and Spanish, by calling the National Passport Information Center toll-free at 1-877-487-2778.

In 2009, the Postal Service accepted over six million passport applications.

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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.