Oakland County, Michigan, March 27, 2006 -- Nearly 400 Oakland County residents with travel plans made their first stop a trip to the Oakland County/Community Passport Fair Saturday.

Future travelers - from an 8-week old baby headed to Cancun with her parents for the holidays to an entire family going on a Caribbean cruise - stopped by the Passport Fair.

"Families told us they really appreciated the convenience of Saturday hours," said Oakland County Clerk/Register Ruth Johnson, who came up with the idea of a fair.

The Clerk's Office, 1200 N. Telegraph in Pontiac, was open from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, March 25. Clerks in eight other communities opened their doors as well, including Bloomfield Township, Commerce Township, Farmington Hills, Highland Township, Novi, Troy, Walled Lake and Wixom.

Troy processed 77 passports. Highland Township processed 61 passports. Famington Hills processed 50 passports.

Tougher travel laws will now require U.S. citizens to have passports for trips to countries where passports were not required.

By December 31, 2006, all air and sea travelers to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda will need passports. By December 31, 2007, the requirement will be extended to all land border crossings as well.

All children are required to have passports.

In other efforts, Johnson also created a separate pilot program, "Passports to Go" which offers businesses on-site passport processing for their employees.

For more information, visit the U.S. Department of State website at http://www.travel.state.gov.

To apply for a U.S. passport, residents must provide:

• A passport application form.
• Proof of U.S. citizenship in the form of a previous passport, certified birth certificate or naturalization certificate.
• Proof of identity, with photo, including a driver's license, government or military ID. Social Security cards will not suffice.

For information, call the Oakland County Clerk/Register Office at (248) 858-0560.