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The latest news in this on-going question of whether a passport is needed to enter the United States from Canada and Mexico was muddied Friday (June 8, 2007) with the announcement of temporary change for the use of U.S. passports, which are required for the first time this year for air travel from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

If you are traveling by land or water, no passport is required this year for re-entering the United States from Canada, so boaters and drivers do not need passports although another form of government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license or a birth certificate, is needed. 

Here is the quick look at the current update for air travel:

If you have applied for a U.S. passport, but have not received it because of the overwhelming application backlog this change has caused, you can get a State Department receipt proving that you’ve applied through travel.state.gov. You can track your application on this Website. With a receipt printed from this site and a valid government-issued photo identification (such as a driver’s license), you will be able to re-enter the United States via air from the above mentioned countries without the passport. This change currently applies until the end of September only.

However, if you have not yet applied for a passport, you should know that a verification receipt from the Website would not be available until up to four weeks after your initial application, unless you pay an additional fee and then it may not be available for up to 7 days. As the press release about the change from the State Department says: “Travelers who have not applied for a passport should not expect to be accommodated.”

The requirement for a passport applies ONLY to air travel this year (2007), not to land or water crossings of the border.

U.S. citizens who haven’t applied yet for a passport and expect to travel by land or water between the United States and Canada next year would be wise to apply now. Currently passports will be required for all people, including children.

The requirement for such a passport is still expected as early as January 2008 and with the backlog of applications, it’s not too early to apply now.  The usual wait for a passport has been 6 weeks, shortened if an additional $60 fee is paid. However, this year there are reports of people who applied in February and who have not yet received a passport (in June), even if they extra fee was paid.

Passport applications can be made at most Post Offices, county auditor offices and other locations. To find application locations nearest to you, go to iafdb.travel.state.gov and type in your zip code. This will give you a list of nearby locations with contact information and whether you can buy a photo there, too.

At travel.state.gov you can find additional information on how to apply. The current cost for application runs about $97 for an adult and $87 for a child’s passport. There is an additional charge to get the proper photo to go with the application.

Specifics on the requirements are in flux. Proposals for next year include a card, much like a driver’s license, that would be cheaper and easier to get. Another proposal would not require passports for children. However, none of these has been approved and the current requirements in place say that by as early as January 2008 or as late June 2009 (no specific date yet determined), passports will be required of everyone crossing into the United States from Canada or Mexico.

Watch this Website for updates as we get them.

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