http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nation/6446184.htmlIf you’re going abroad and plan to return, listen up
Beginning Monday, you can’t re-enter the U.S. without a passportBy SUSAN CARROLL
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
May 28, 2009, 8:41PM
me Monday, you better pack your passport for that weekend cruise to Cancun or that quick shopping trip across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Gone are the days when you could just declare your U.S. citizenship and breeze through U.S. Customs at the nation’s land and sea ports.
Even your Texas driver’s license and a birth certificate won’t get you home these days — at least not without some extra questioning from U.S. border inspectors.
After years of delays, the U.S. government on Monday will start requiring U.S. citizens returning home from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda to show their U.S. passport — or one of five other forms of secure ID — at land borders and sea ports.
The rule change, announced after the terrorist attacks of 2001, was delayed repeatedly over concerns that the more stringent identification requirements would disrupt travel across the international borders.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Joanne Ferreira said Thursday that officials are not expecting major delays at the nation’s ports of entry on Monday, when the regulation takes effect.
“We do not anticipate any big issues or concerns,” Ferreira said.
U.S. citizens who are unaware of the requirement will not be barred from returning home, she said, adding that the agency will be flexible at first.
“If they are a U.S. citizen they will not be denied entry,” she said, “but they may face delays as CBP officers will need to confirm their identities and their citizenship.”
“We’re encouraging travelers to have their documents, and if they don’t, we’re encouraging them to apply now,” Ferreira said.
No passport cards here
So far, some 91 million Americans — roughly 30 percent of the population — have U.S. passports, Ferreira said. Another 1 million have passport cards, which are designed for U.S. citizens who travel frequently back and forth from Mexico or Canada. When ordered in person, the wallet-sized cards cost $45 instead of the $100 fee for a passport book, but the cards are not accepted for air travel.
After the federal government started requiring in January 2007 that air travelers from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean meet the passport requirements, increased demand led to long backlogs in processing passports. The State Department now reports that the standard processing time for passport applications is four to six weeks, with expedited service available in as little as two weeks for an added fee.
Ron Martinez, operations manager at Sam’s Passport and Visa Services, a Houston-based passport expediting company, said he is bracing for increased demand starting next week.
“We’ve notice a little bit of a pickup, but I think once it actually goes into effect, that’s when we’ll really start to feel it and see it,” Martinez said.
