Passports

The changing passport requirements coming from the State Department continue to consume a lot of energy in our business. We still receive many calls from travelers confused about the requirements, but we see that it isn’t going to get less confusing going forward. The original goal of the change was to phase into requiring passports for all travelers coming into the US. This was to improve border security (and that makes sense). Prior to January, 2007, travelers to Mexico, Canada, and many Caribbean destinations did not need passports. This year, air travel to all destinations began to require passports. Next year sea and land travel would have also been included. However, because the State Department was unable to accommodate the increase in passport applications for this first phase, there have been short-term adjustments in the policies and that is what is creating the confusion. However, the long and the short of it is—within the next two or three years (depending upon how many readjustments there are going forward), everyone will need a passport to come back into the US. Why not get it now?