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Do travelers need a passport? Ask a simple
question, get a complex answer.
08 June 2008
CNN:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration on Friday temporarily
waived some of its new, post-September 11 requirements for flying
abroad, hoping to help irate summer travelers whose trips have
been jeopardized by delays in processing their passport applications.
The change would aid those fliers awaiting
a U.S. passport to meet the new rule that requires one for travel
to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
But it won't clear the way for travelers who
haven't already applied for a passport.
There is still no passport required for Americans
driving across the Canadian or Mexican borders or taking sea
cruises, although those travelers are expected to need passports
under new rules beginning next year.
Easing the rules should allow the State Department
to catch up with a massive surge in applications that has overwhelmed
passport processing centers since the rule took effect this
year, officials said. The resulting backlog has caused up to
three-month delays for passports and ruined or delayed the travel
plans of thousands of travelers.
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.
Travelers showing only receipts would receive
additional security scrutiny, which could include extra questioning
or bag checks.
DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said the easing
of the passport rule would only affect those who have already
applied for passports -- not those who apply in coming days
for travel later this summer.
"Individuals who have not yet applied
for a passport should not expect to be accommodated," Knocke
said.
The application surge is the result of the
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that since January has
required U.S. citizens to use passports when entering the United
States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air. It is part
of a broader package of immigration rules enacted after the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (Read more about passport
rules on State Department Web site)
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