Scores of people line up in Monroe County for passports

Christmas may be over but that didn’t stop scores of people from lining up a the Monroe County Office Building. “We’re here waiting in line to get our passports because were thinking about maybe going on a cruise next year and we want to be prepared and have everything ready,” said Steve Wiesner. Saturday was the last day of the year for residents to apply for a passport. This year confusion over some changes in the laws has some people scrambling to get in their application before the end of the year. “There maybe requirements for travel to Canada that you might need either a passport or a pass card or some different type of NYS license that would allow you to border cross in your vehicle to Canada, “ said Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo. Already people traveling out of the U-S by plane or cruise ship are required to have a passport to re-enter the country. “Were here to get a passport were going on a honeymoon cruise my wife and i so we want to make sure were able to get on the cruise boat,” said Paul Campanaro. Xavier Major is talking a group of young people to France for a basketball tournament next summer. “We figured lets try to get them far enough in advance so that’s one of the last things we got to worry about,” said Major. Lawmakers are still debating whether to require a passport for people driving to Canada, Currently, you must have either a passport pr a current valid drivers license. Meantime Dinolfo says if you plan to travel anywhere outside the U-S net year it’s better to be safe than sorry. “I think in light if the difference of opinion as to what’s going to happen with respect to border crossing to Canada we do see a lot of people coming in and availing themselves with the opportunity to get a passport because that would allow you to travel internationally without any exception,” added Dinolfo.