Passports now required for re-entry to the US

 

Citizens of the US will be required to show a passport for re-entry into the United States as of January 23, 2007 under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which is supposed to make our border security better and to facilitate entry for US citizens. How showing a passport facilitates entry for our citizens is left as an exercise for the reader. (But then, so it how it better secures our borders.)

 

If you fail to have your passport when returning,

For the general public, people who apply for entry but do not have appropriate documentation will be referred for secondary screening at the port. In secondary, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers will evaluate any evidence of citizenship or identity the individual may have and will verify all information against available databases.

according to the site.

 

Other forms of identity than the passport are accepted; see the page for examples.

 

The WHTI is getting flack from some US senators and representatives, as well as from Canadian officials who think it will hurt commerce and tourism. Canadian snowbirds in Florida may have arrirved without passports (as they have for years); under the WHTI, they will be required to produce passports when leaving the US.

 

At present the WHTI affects only air travelers, but in January 2008, all US citizen travelers - air, sea, and land - will be required to produce passports when returning to the US from travel within the Western Hemisphere.

 

Since the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico are exempt from the rules (as they are US territories), they expect a windfall due to infrequent travelers who do not want to go to the trouble and expense of securing a passport. The Puerto Rico Convention Bureau, for example, is advertising No Passport Required to visit Puerto Rico


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