April 05, 2005 | More Travel Restrictions Coming

The Department of Homeland Security announced today that starting in 2008 as soon as the end of the year, you will need a passport to visit Mexico, Canada and Bermuda.

From the press release:

The Departments of Homeland Security and State announced today the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative to secure and expedite travel. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all U.S. citizens, Canadians, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and citizens of Mexico to have a passport or other accepted secure document to enter or re-enter United States by January 1, 2008.

Currently, U.S. citizens, and some citizens of other countries in the Western Hemisphere are not required to present a passport to enter or re-enter the U. S. when traveling within the Western Hemisphere. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA, also known as the 9/11 Intelligence Bill), signed into law on December 17, 2004, mandated that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan to require U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport, or other secure document when entering the United States.

Actually what the law said was that DHS had to decide what documents -- whether that be a passport, a driver's license, a state identification card or some other identification --, are sufficient to re-enter your own country.

The catch was that the document has to be able to prove both identity and citizenship.

The schedule is as follows:

• December 31, 2005 - Apply the requirement to all travel (air/sea) to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America.
• December 31, 2006 - Apply the requirement to all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.
• December 31, 2007 - Apply the requirement to all air, sea and land border crossings.

For those interested here's the text of the Intelligence Reform bill and the passport requirement is in Section 7209.

Posted by Ryan Singel at April 5, 2005 11:19 AM

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