New Passport Requirements
New regulations are going into effect that will require a valid US passport for entry or re-entry from places that have not required passports up until now. If you are planning a trip to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, you will now have to have a passport to get back into the US. Up until now it has been possible to use a driver's license.
Under new government regulations, by Dec. 31, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada — plus Bermuda and Panama — will be required to have a passport to enter or re-enter the United States.
A year later, on Dec. 31, 2007, the requirement will be extended to all land-based border crossings as well.
This is a change from prior travel requirements under which you could go to Canada, Mexico or most Caribbean countries and re-enter the U.S. with a driver's license and birth certificate.
To find out how to get a passport, visit the State Department's travel Web site at http://www.travel.state.gov, or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center at 877-487-2778.
For a list of post offices, town clerk's offices and other facilities where passports are processed, type in your zip code at http://www.iafdb.travel.state.gov/. There are more than 7,700 such locations around the country.
Allow six weeks for processing. Peak domestic passport processing is between January and July, so you'll get your passport more quickly if you apply between August and December. You can also pay for expedited service in an emergency.
If you're 16 or older, the fees for getting a new passport total $97, not including the cost of getting passport photos. For children under 16, the fees total $82. Passport renewals are $67.
I can't say as I'm happy with this development. Perhaps now we can start talking again about our porous border with Mexico where it is all too easy for illegals to enter the country even as it becomes more difficult for citizens to get across the border.
By Guy, Tuesday, 12 September , 2006 @ 7:17 am
Hmm…Wonder how that effects traffic in the border towns? That’s gotta hurt local merchants that traffic in souvenirs to the tourist trade.
By Guy, Tuesday, 12 September , 2006 @ 7:20 am
Like you, I think the only people it will effect are honest folk, moving back and forth across the border. It would appear that the old rule of unintended consequences will come into play.
By jesse, Sunday, 15 October , 2006 @ 10:12 am
how long will these passports by land be good for