US Citizens can visit Mexico without passport
US Citizens can visit Mexico without passport
WASHINGTON — The government is considering a temporary waiver of new anti-terrorism rules that require U.S. citizens to show passports when flying to and from Mexico and Canada, because of a backlog in passport applications, according to a Bush administration official.
Citizens would be able to fly without passports through Sept. 30 if they can show a receipt verifying they have applied, according to the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. An announcement is expected today.
Applicants could get receipts by going to the State Department's website, the official said. Travelers without passports also would:
• Be required to show another form of government-issued ID, such as a driver's license.
• Face more scrutiny, possibly including questioning by border-security agents.
• Likely have their bags more thoroughly examined.
The passport rules, which took effect in January as part of a broad post-9/11 effort to tighten security along the nation's borders and at airports, have contributed to longer-than-expected backlogs at State Department processing centers.
Typically, passports are processed in less than six weeks. In recent months, it has taken 12 weeks or more, leaving anxious travelers worried about having to cancel summer vacations or lose money on non-refundable airline tickets.
"My state offices have been inundated with cases of travelers who have planned months in advance for travel, applied for their passports in ample time, yet the State Department does not have the ability to process their requests," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
State Department spokesman Nancy Beck declined to comment.
The passport rules require all citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to have a passport to enter or re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Central and South American countries, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
For now, a temporary suspension would apply only to travel to and from Mexico and Canada.
Rick Webster of the Travel Industry Association said it's impossible to know exactly how many people with airline reservations have been impacted by the backlogs. But he said the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands.
"It's a challenge but certainly not a crisis," Webster said.
However, the backlog for the air travel requirement may only be a fraction of the backlog that occurs when citizens are required to show passports or other documents to travel by land and sea.
That requirement is set to take effect in January 2008.
"This is a small taste of what we could see when land and sea come on line," he said.
Citizens would be able to fly without passports through Sept. 30 if they can show a receipt verifying they have applied, according to the official, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the issue. An announcement is expected today.
Applicants could get receipts by going to the State Department's website, the official said. Travelers without passports also would:
• Be required to show another form of government-issued ID, such as a driver's license.
• Face more scrutiny, possibly including questioning by border-security agents.
• Likely have their bags more thoroughly examined.
The passport rules, which took effect in January as part of a broad post-9/11 effort to tighten security along the nation's borders and at airports, have contributed to longer-than-expected backlogs at State Department processing centers.
Typically, passports are processed in less than six weeks. In recent months, it has taken 12 weeks or more, leaving anxious travelers worried about having to cancel summer vacations or lose money on non-refundable airline tickets.
"My state offices have been inundated with cases of travelers who have planned months in advance for travel, applied for their passports in ample time, yet the State Department does not have the ability to process their requests," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine.
State Department spokesman Nancy Beck declined to comment.
The passport rules require all citizens of the United States, Canada, Mexico and Bermuda to have a passport to enter or re-enter the United States from Canada, Mexico, Central and South American countries, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
For now, a temporary suspension would apply only to travel to and from Mexico and Canada.
Rick Webster of the Travel Industry Association said it's impossible to know exactly how many people with airline reservations have been impacted by the backlogs. But he said the number is likely in the hundreds of thousands.
"It's a challenge but certainly not a crisis," Webster said.
However, the backlog for the air travel requirement may only be a fraction of the backlog that occurs when citizens are required to show passports or other documents to travel by land and sea.
That requirement is set to take effect in January 2008.
"This is a small taste of what we could see when land and sea come on line," he said.
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