New Passport Requirements For U.S. Citizens

Thursday, March 1, 2007

EL TRAV New Passport Requirements For U.S. Citizens (NAPSA)—If you are planning on taking a Caribbean cruise or Canadian ski trip, you could find yourself stranded on the wrong side of the border—if you travel without a passport. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requires all travelers to and from Canada, Mexico, Central and South Amer- ica, the Caribbean and Bermuda to present a passport or other accepted document that establishes the bearer’s identity and nationality to enter or re-enter the United States. The proposed timeline is as follows: Air Travel—Passport Now Required. U.S. citizens traveling by air are required to have a valid passport for exiting and re-entering the United States, effective Jan. 23, 2007. Sea and Land Border Entry Ports—Passport/PASS Card Deadline: June 1, 2009. U.S. citizens traveling by sea and land within the Western Hemisphere— Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico—will be required to have a valid U.S. passport or a yet-to-bedetermined, new economical travel document knownas a Passport Card on or before June 1, 2009. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will not affect travel between the United States and its territories. U.S. citizens traveling to the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mar- iana Islands and American Samoa will continue to be able to use established formsof identification to board flights and for entry. The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA) advises all travelers— even those with no immediate plans to travel in the Western Hemisphere—to apply for pass- Whentraveling outside the U.S., a passport is an important means of identification used to prove Americancitizenship. ports now to avoid a last-minute crunch. Trust Your Travel Agent The new passport require- ments can be very confusing; however, an ASTA travel agent can provide you with information about how to acquire the proper travel documents and help you understand the most up-to-date security regulations. ASTA maintains real-time information on its Web site at www.travelsense. org/consumer/alerts.asp. Obtaining A Passport For information on obtaining a passport or for an application, U.S. citizens can visit the State Department’s Web site at http://travel.state.gov or call the U.S. National Passport Information Center at (877) 4USA-PPT. Allow six weeks for processing of the passport application. If you need to travel urgently and require a passport sooner, contact an ASTAtravel agent for information about expediting the application process.