Countdown to New Travel Regulations

March 1st marks the official countdown of the imposition of the new international travel rules regarding identification that will take effect on June 1, 2009. For anyone planning to travel by cruise or air after that date, it is wise to become well acquainted with these new rules before you vacation.

Up until this point, using your birth certificate and a government issued photo ID has been sufficient to get across international borders. Beginning June 1st, however, this simple process will change. As result of the efforts of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, requiring standardized documentation will assist in strengthening border security in the United States. Travel by air is not the only venue where this mandate will be required; reentry into the US by sea will also require one of the following: a passport, a passport card or other Homeland Security approved documents.

Individuals planning to cruise to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean may find the passport card to be a more inexpensive and easier document to obtain. A microchip imbedded into the plastic foundation of the card enables officials to accurately confirm your identity. The card resembles a driver’s license; exhibiting visible information such as name, address and other personal information as well as the individual’s photograph. However, there are some serious considerations to be made before making the decision to obtain the card over a regular passport. If, for some reason, an individual should need to fly home for an emergency from one of these foreign ports, the passport card would NOT regain them entry into the US. Only a true passport can be used for air travel from a foreign country into the United States.

Even though the cost of a regular passport may be more than that of the card, it also carries much more power. In an emergency situation, the payoff of peace of mind achieved by seamless transport from another country to your homeland will more than make up for the difference in cost between the two.

Anyone planning to travel by cruise after June 1st should give great consideration to the implications of one means of identification over the other.