The need to show a passport on returning from all foreign places, even near ones like Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean, is pushed back a year.
By From Times wires
Published September 11, 2005
WASHINGTON - Facing continued protests from the travel industry, the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have postponed for one more year the requirement that Americans present a valid passport when they return to the nation after foreign travel.
In the name of increased border security, the agencies had proposed requiring all citizens to produce a passport, not just a valid driver's license or other government-issued photo identification. The ruling would have effected even cruise ship passengers who had been sailing in the Caribbean.
Under the revision announced recently, any American entering the country by air or sea will have to show a passport, as of Dec. 31, 2006. Any citizen crossing the border from Canada or Mexico will have to produce a passport as of Dec. 31, 2007.
Travel organization executives and others in the industry had protested that such restrictions would be enough to cause a decline in business, just now recovering from its post-9/11 decline.
The problem is that less than 30 percent of America's population holds a passport. Having to get one from the federal government was seen as a deterrent to tourists who might have decided on a relatively low-cost vacation to America's neighbors or a cruise in the warm Caribbean during winter months.
The two federal agencies still will accept comments on the proposals, until Oct. 31. To make a comment, go to www.epa.gov/feddocket and include Regulatory Information Number 1651-AA66, or go to www.regulations.gov and include RIN 1400-AC10.
