Passport Rules Change

Happy new year. Now get a passport.

After numerous delays, the first phase of the government's Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is about to become a reality. On Jan. 23, U.S. citizens traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda must present a valid passport. (U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are exempt.) In the past, many of these destinations required only a valid U.S. driver's license or other official ID.

Phase 2: Travelers will need passports if going by land or sea to the regions mentioned above as early as January 2008 and no later than June 2009.

Since the initiative was announced by the Homeland Security and State departments in April 2005, U.S. travelers have taken heed, with a surge in passport applications. Yet "we are turning them around in the same amount of time -- four to six weeks," says Derwood Staeben, senior adviser for the initiative.

To simplify land and sea crossings, the agencies are developing a "passport card." The wallet-size card, which would be limited to travel between the States and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, would cost $20 for adults and $10 for children, plus a $25 processing fee. The card could be unveiled by late summer.

First-time passport applicants must apply in person at a passport facility (see Web site below for locations); the cost is $97 for ages 16 and older.

-- Andrea Sachs

For information: U.S. State Department, http://travel.state.gov/travel.