County's 'Passport Day' a success, officials say

Late last month, Washington County held a "Passport Day" at its licensing centers as a way to promote awareness of the June 1 deadline when citizens traveling to Mexico and Canada by land will need a passport.

The event was a success said Kevin Corbid, Washington County director of property records and taxpayer services.

The county licensing centers in Woodbury, Forest Lake and Stillwater were open an additional three hours Saturday, March 28 and the fee for obtaining a passport photo was reduced from $15 to $5.

Licensing centers in other county locations that are not open on Saturday received the discount on Friday, March 27.

The result: 267 passport application were issues and 418 passport photos were taken.

“We probably would have gotten about 60 of those applications without this event so I think our net increase is about 200, five times we needed to do to make the event a success,” Corbid said.

Beginning June 1, 2009, U.S. citizens must present a passport book, passport card, or other travel documents approved by the U.S. government to enter the United States from Canada, Mexico via land and seaport entries.

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