They are anticipating a surge of passport applicants this winter and spring, thanks to a new U.S. law.  As of June 1, 2009, all travelers returning to the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda (by land or sea) must have a passport or one of several other federally approved IDs. (A passport already is required for all international air travel.)

This new law means that Americans will not be able to head to Vancouver, B.C., and use just a driver's license and birth certificate as ID when driving across the U.S.-Canada border.

Getting a passport may take longer, especially as the June 1st deadline nears. Applications for passports are expected to increase over the next year to more than 18 million nationwide.

How to apply: Get details and forms at www.travel.state.gov/passport/ or phone 877-487-2778. First-time applicants and children under 16 must apply in person; there are 9,000 facilities across the country, including post offices, libraries and local government offices. Find them by ZIP code at http://iafdb.travel.state.gov.