DHS temporarily relaxes passport requirement for Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative required, since January, that U.S. citizens use passports when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean by air; State Department buckles under passport application backlog
Businesses in upstate New York and other states on the U.S.-Canada border have received a break from the Bush administration, as it suspended some of its new, post-9/11 requirements for traveling abroad. The administration hopes to placate Congress and irrate summer travelers whose vacations have been thwarted by delays in processing their passports. The proposal would temporarily lift a requirement that U.S. passports be used for citizens flying to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
The suspension should allow the State Department to handle a massive surge in applications that has overwhelmed passport processing centers since the rule took effect this year. The resulting backlog has caused up to three-month delays for passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of thousands of Americans. The application surge is the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative which, since January, has required U.S. citizens to use passports when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air. Between March and May, the department issued more than 4.5 million passports. It has millions more to process, according to consular affairs officials.
Until the end of September, travelers will be allowed to fly without a passport if they present a State Department receipt, showing they had applied for a passport, and government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license. Those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny, which could include extra questioning or bag checks.
DHS yesterday agreed to the relaxtion of the rule after consultations with the State Department, the White House, and members of Congress.
