The Department of State wants to make your summer travel planning a little easier so for the second year in a row, March 27 is being declared "Passport Day USA." Go team! Wait - what does this mean?
It means passport agencies will be open on Saturday, from about 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to accept applications for passports or passport cards without requiring an appointment. (Maryland post offices open 9 a.m.-2 p.m.) Normally these offices don't process passports on the weekend. Also, you'll be able to simply submit your application or renewal paperwork instead of having to mail it off. This does not mean you get your passport the same day - in fact, if you have urgent travel plans say within a couple weeks, Passport Day is not for you. Last year, officials said they collected more than 57,000 applications across the U.S. on Passport Day. Most travelers leaving the continental U.S. by land or sea require either a passport or passport card as of June 2009 - unless you're going to Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands.
In Maryland, most post offices are participating in Passport Day. You can find a list here. The Washington Passport Agency at 1111 19th St. NW will be open also. Passport costs can be found here. The agencies will accept personal checks or credit cards. And you should know that passport fees may be going up. Based on a proposal from the State Department, fees would increase anywhere from 35-75 percent. For example, renewals would go from $75 to $110 under the plan. Passports for minors would go from $60 to $105. And the changes could happen before summer travel season. So there's no reason to wait.