Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
http://americanpassport.com/wha.html
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to and from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to have a passport or other accepted document that establishes identity and citizenship to enter or re-enter the United States. The U.S. travel industry supports WHTI and believes border security will be enhanced by allowing Customs and Border Protection officers to examine fewer types of more secure travel documents. Still, we have expressed concern about the possible impact of WHTI on cross-border travel if not implemented in a realistic time frame with adequate preparation on the part of government and travelers.
As expected, the January 23 deadline date for implementation of WHTI for air travel came and went with practically no disruption to travel as nearly all air travelers in the Western Hemisphere already possess passports. In fact, the compliance rate to date with the passport requirement is 98.9%.
Travel Documents for U.S. Citizens Under WHTI
Under the proposed implementation plan, the following documents will be acceptable to fulfill document requirements:
* U.S. Passport: U.S. citizens may present a valid U.S. passport when traveling via air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda, and may also use a U.S. passport when traveling via sea and land borders (including ferry crossings).
* The Passport Card (also referred to as the PASS Card): This limited use passport in card format is currently under development and will be available for use for travel only via land or sea (including ferries) between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Similar in size to a credit card, it will fit easily into a wallet.
* DOS and DHS also anticipate that the following documents will continue to be acceptable for their current travel uses under WHTI: SENTRI, NEXUS, FAST, and the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document. As proposed, members of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty traveling on orders will continue to be exempt from the passport requirement.
Concerning the upcoming sea and land border travel deadline, there is concern and some confusion since no specific date is set. We are encouraging the federal government to use the congressionally mandated time to sufficiently prepare for and adequately educate the traveling public of the new requirements. We are also working with government officials to jointly communicate to travelers about how phase two (sea/land) will be implemented.
Contact: Rick Webster (202-408-2163 or rwebster@tia.org) or Melissa Gong (202-408-2137 or MGong@tia.org)
I'm entering a question for the next round of presidential debates regarding WHTI using the youtube submission format.
http://www.youtube.com/debates
Any suggestions on how I should phrase the question?
http://americanpassport.com/wha.html
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative would require all travelers, including U.S. citizens, to and from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to have a passport or other accepted document that establishes identity and citizenship to enter or re-enter the United States. The U.S. travel industry supports WHTI and believes border security will be enhanced by allowing Customs and Border Protection officers to examine fewer types of more secure travel documents. Still, we have expressed concern about the possible impact of WHTI on cross-border travel if not implemented in a realistic time frame with adequate preparation on the part of government and travelers.
As expected, the January 23 deadline date for implementation of WHTI for air travel came and went with practically no disruption to travel as nearly all air travelers in the Western Hemisphere already possess passports. In fact, the compliance rate to date with the passport requirement is 98.9%.
Travel Documents for U.S. Citizens Under WHTI
Under the proposed implementation plan, the following documents will be acceptable to fulfill document requirements:
* U.S. Passport: U.S. citizens may present a valid U.S. passport when traveling via air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda, and may also use a U.S. passport when traveling via sea and land borders (including ferry crossings).
* The Passport Card (also referred to as the PASS Card): This limited use passport in card format is currently under development and will be available for use for travel only via land or sea (including ferries) between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Similar in size to a credit card, it will fit easily into a wallet.
* DOS and DHS also anticipate that the following documents will continue to be acceptable for their current travel uses under WHTI: SENTRI, NEXUS, FAST, and the U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document. As proposed, members of the U.S. Armed Forces on active duty traveling on orders will continue to be exempt from the passport requirement.
Concerning the upcoming sea and land border travel deadline, there is concern and some confusion since no specific date is set. We are encouraging the federal government to use the congressionally mandated time to sufficiently prepare for and adequately educate the traveling public of the new requirements. We are also working with government officials to jointly communicate to travelers about how phase two (sea/land) will be implemented.
Contact: Rick Webster (202-408-2163 or rwebster@tia.org) or Melissa Gong (202-408-2137 or MGong@tia.org)
I'm entering a question for the next round of presidential debates regarding WHTI using the youtube submission format.
http://www.youtube.com/debates
Any suggestions on how I should phrase the question?