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 Thursday, Sept. 3 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Niles Post Office, 741 Broadway St., Niles.

The Passport Fair will take place within the Customer Lobby, with separate areas staffed by trained postal employees to handle the application, fee payment, passport photo, and verification processes.

“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,” said Officer-In-Charge Greg Massey.

“This is a wonderful opportunity to get this taken care of,” Massey added.

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, U.S. Citizens entering or re-entering the United States will require a valid passport.

The fees are:

Adult Passport Book – Passport fee $75 + Execution Fee $25=$100 Age 16 and over

Adults Passport Card – Passport Fee $20 + Execution Fee $25=$45 Age 16 and over

Child Passport Book – Passport Fee $60 + Execution Fee $25=$85 Age 15 and under

Child Passport Card – Passport Fee $10 + Execution Fee $25=$35 AGe 15 and under

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

In such cases, The applicant Incurs overnight (Express Meli) delivery costs, payable to USPS.

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.

Visit the State Department’s web site at www.travel.state.gov.