AUBURN - Sunday was a busy day at the Auburn post office, but not with the usual letters, packages and stamps.

People lined up at the Auburn office as well as others across the Albany postal district for passports.

With the changes in travel regulations and identification, requiring U.S. residents to have a passport to travel to Mexico and Canada by air, the post office has become a venue for people to get passport photos as well as filling and sending out applications.

“We've been doing this for a quite a while,” said Lance Jones, supervisor of the Auburn post office. “It is something everybody needs to travel now. And we do everything people need, photos and applications all in one place.”

While post offices have offered these services before, with the new laws going into effect this month, it was decided the office should hold an extra day, to bring attention to the need for a passport.

The Auburn office sent out more than 17,000 mailers, announcing the Sunday event.

“We sent them to all the city addresses, P.O. boxes and the P.O. boxes at the mall,” Jones said. “We wanted to let people know that we were doing this and give them a chance to get here.”

Jones said that he wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but that there was a steady turnout.

Many residents came to get a passport for the first time, to continue to be able to travel to relatively close destinations, like Canada.

“I've never had one before,” said Marge Larrabee, of Seneca Falls. “Eventually everyone is going to need one, we go up to Canada sometimes, so I thought it would be a good idea to come down hare and get my passport.”

Others wanted the convenience of having a passport should they decide to travel.

“I don't really travel much,” said Barbara O'Hara, of Auburn. “But I wanted to get it in case I decided that I want to go somewhere. I'd like to do more traveling and I think this is a great way to do this.”

In the first two hours, postal employees processed more than 40 applications and photos, so many, Jones ran out of film and had to find more or send customers to other stores such as Wal-Mart and Wegmans to get photos.

“You never know,” Jones said. “This is the first time we've done this and you never know what kind of volume to expect.”

Passport applications and photos are a service the post office offers Monday through Saturday, during regular business hours, but for many, having Sunday was an added convenience.

“This is very efficient,” said Emily Ciglio, of Elbridge. “It is very convenient and everyone has been very courteous and Sunday is a good day for a lot of people to be able to do these kinds of things.”

With the strong response, plans are already in the works for the Auburn office to host another passport Sunday.

“We will do another,” Jones said. “We'll probably do at least one more before the end of September.”