Western Hemisphere Travel? Passports May Be Required.

[feistydem]

Something I just received from my company travel office:

link: http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)

The proposed implementation timeline has two phases:

• Beginning January 23, 2007, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda will be required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document, or an Alien Registration Card, Form I-551, if applicable.

• As early as January 1, 2008, ALL persons, including U.S. citizens, traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), may be required to present a valid passport or other documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. While recent legislative changes permit a later deadline, the Departments of State and Homeland Security are working to meet all requirements as soon as possible. Ample advance notice will be provided to enable the public to obtain passports or passport cards for land/sea entries.
The passport requirement does NOT apply to U.S. citizens traveling to or returning directly from a U.S. territory. U.S. citizens returning directly from a U.S. territory are not considered to have left the United States and do not need to present a passport. U.S. territories include the following: Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
Travel Documents for U.S. Citizens Under WHTI

Under the proposed implementation plan, the following documents will be acceptable to fulfill document requirements:

• U.S. Passport: U.S. citizens may present a valid U.S. passport when traveling via air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda, and may also use a U.S. passport when traveling via sea and land borders (including ferry crossings).

• The Passport Card (also referred to as the PASS Card): This limited-use passport in card format is currently under development and will be available for use for travel only via land or sea (including ferries) between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Similar in size to a credit card, it will fit easily into a wallet.

• DOS and DHS also anticipate that the following documents will continue to be acceptable for their current travel uses under WHTI: SENTRI, NEXUS, FAST, and the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document. As proposed, members of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty traveling on orders will continue to be exempt from the passport requirement.

[Atman]

1. Made the whole fam get 'em before the rfid tags go in

Mine's still blank, and I've had it for over two years. This summer my wife and kids got theirs. They're all blank, but they're ready to be stamped, bay-bee!

.

[demnan]

2. Yeah I'm going to Niagra Falls in the Spring

on the Canadian side and I have to get a Passport.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

3. And passports for adults now cost $97.00 and I think children are about $10.00 or less.

Not cheap to leave the US.

[liberal N proud]

4. Show me your papers!

I demand to see your papers. What? You don't have any papers? Take this man to the camp at once.
Heil!

[feistydem]

5. That was my first thought too....and there are those draft dodgers.

[Bitwit1234]

6. Next comes national ID. and then micro chips.

[mentalsolstice]

7. We went to Banff Canada for the holidays

We left on Dec. 23 and came back on Jan. 2. We were asked on both ends of the trip for our "papers".

[kineneb]

8. all this

while in Europe, they don't check passports at the boarders anymore.

Welcome to Gulag America. Show your papers, now, cretin!