Important Changes to International Travel Effective January 23, 2007

Effective today, January 23, 2007, all people, including United States citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central America, South American, the Caribbean and Bermuda are required to have a valid passport in order to enter the United States.

United States citizens traveling to and returning from United States territories are not required to have a passport because they are not considered to have left the United States. United States territories include Guam, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative or WHTI was created per 9/11 Commission recommendations by the Administration to address requirements set by the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004. The goal of the WHTI is to "strengthen border security and facilitate entry into the United States for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors by providing standardized, secure and reliable documentation which will allow the Department of Homeland Security to quickly, reliably and accurately identify a traveler".

The passport card is another form of identification that will be accepted in place of a passport for United States citizens. Part of the PASS (People Access Security Service) system announced by Secretaries Rice and Chertoff in January of 2006, the passport card will utilize radio frequency identification (RFID) technology which will connect the card to a secure United States database containing biographical data and a photograph. The card, itself, will not contain any personal information. The passport card, or PASS card as it is becoming known, will cost approximately $10 for children and $20 for adults and will have a $25 execution fee. It will only be able to be used for international travel, for United States Citizens, by air or sea between the United States, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.