U S Passport Requirement Changing on 12/31/06

Here's a link to the current rules. New Requirements For Travelers

Effective 12/31/2006, all cruise passengers going to/from any destination outside the USA including Canada and the Caribbean will be required to carry passports.

The proposed timeline will be as follows:

• December 31, 2006 - Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
  
• December 31, 2007 - Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.

Two articles in yesterday's paper reinforce the need for everyone to get to work on obtaining a Passport before 12/31/06.

The first is a reiteration of the first post of this thread and emphasizes the heavy increase in Passport applications already. The second is: State Dept. To Begin Rollout of Electronic Passports where embedded chips will be added to all new Passports.

Our local Post Office here regularly has a long line for applications and has set up a special window for Passport applications. They expect a "tidal wave" of applications as 12/31/06 approaches.

From the Department of State Passport website:

- January 8, 2007 - Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.

- January 1, 2008 - Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.

Here's a link to a lengthy article in article in Tuesday's Wall St. Journal that discusses the new rules.

I am posting these extracts for those who don't subscribe to the WSJ on line:

...By Jan. 8, passports will be required for most everyone entering the U.S. from the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico through airports and seaports, instead of just a birth certificate and driver's license. Land borders will adopt the same requirement Jan. 1, 2008...

...The travel industry and several border-state governors and senators have been pushing for a delay in the new rules, fearing confusion and long delays for travelers that could hurt the cruise industry in particular. Only 25% of Americans have passports, and many could be left high and dry if they don't get one before they head off to an island cruise...

..."We're very concerned about the impact on the cruise industry…” [said] TIA's vice president of government affairs...

...The government says it is going ahead with the change starting Jan. 8. The deadline was pushed back a week from the first day of the year so it wouldn't kick in during holiday travels. That has been the only delay granted so far. "If you're going to the Caribbean next February or March, you'd better start worrying about a passport this fall," says Frank Moss, the State Department's head passport official....

In other words, if you plan to cruise anywhere in 2007 or later years and do not yet have your Passport, today would be a great time to get down to your Post Office and get going.

By the way, kids are not exempt. BOTH PARENTS (whether or not they are married, separated or divorced) must be present when applying for a Passport for a youngster 14 years of age or younger.

Yet another change. The new date for cruise travel was posted on Saturday, Oct 14, 2006, with little fanfare.

See the new rules at the State Dept website. The only change is cruise travel, where the Passport requirement has been moved to January 1, 2008. That means any air travel to or from the Caribbean whether or not to join a cruise still requires a Passport after January 7, 2007.

Cruisers boarding and disembarking in the USA can now wait until January 1, 2008.

Windstar cruisers will need Passports after 1/1/07 for all cruises, even those sailing from St. Thomas.