If you travel internationally, you’d better listen up… In just a couple of months, you’ll have to present a passport when arriving in the United States from North, Central, or South America as well as the Carribean (and Bermuda). Previously, U.S. and Canadian citizens were allowed to enter the U.S. from select countries if they presented a birth certificate or driver’s license, and some Mexicans could enter without a passport if they had a special border crossing card. But as of January 23, 2007 that will be history.
The good news is that you can actually get a passport reasonably quickly (I’ve talked about applying for a passport in the past), although I wouldn’t delay if I were you… This policy change may well prompt a lot of people to go out and apply for a passport, and thus there could be an increase in applications, possibly resulting in delays.
For those of us that live in the Northern part of the United States, please note that these new restriction are only for Air Travel to Canada. If you drive across the boarder, passports are not required.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html
I had a feeling this was going to happen so I got myself a passport earlier this year. I wonder how many people are going to be caught off guard by this because they’re just used to doing it the old way.
Thankfully, I got myself a passport before going on my honeymoon this summer. No longer any need to do it again!
Of course, I can’t afford to leave the country anyway, which means I won’t have to worry about getting back in…