Gov't proposes pushing passport requirement back 7 days

WASHINGTON -- U.S. travelers would have a few extra days before they would need passports or other approved documentation when crossing U.S. ports of entry, under the long-awaited final proposed border security rules issued by the Dept. of Homeland Security and the State Dept.

Under the pending final rule for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), which is open to industry comment through Sept. 25, the departments have proposed pushing back the current Jan. 1, 2007 administrative start date to Jan. 8 in order to "better accommodate the holiday travel season."

The departments also contend that delaying the implementation date for a few days "would not have an adverse effect on national security."

According to the proposed rule, the passport requirement will not apply to ferry and pleasure boat passengers.

But with only four months to go before the rule is slated to go into effect, the Travel Industry Association has raised several concerns -- including one that the passport requirement may be particularly onerous for cruise passengers.

While air passengers are comparatively more likely to have passports, Roger Dow, TIA's president and CEO, said "Two-thirds of the people who take cruises today do not."

That is particularly true of those who typically cruise the Caribbean where passports had previously not been required.

With the passport regulation still pending, many passengers, including some who may be unaware of the coming passport requirement, are booking cruises.

"The advance booking time for cruises is four months," Dow said at a media briefing here. "So right now, people are booking their cruises this summer for their travel in January, February and March."

That could translate to hundreds of thousands of travelers who suddenly will have to apply for passports.

The State and Homeland Security departments have, in response to travel industry lobbying, proposed creating a new form of documentation called a People Access Security Service, or PASS card.

According to the pending final rule, the card would cost less than a passport, at about $45 for adults, $35 for children. The application process would be similar to that of a passport. The main difference is the PASS card would be more portable as it would be about the size of a credit card. Its use however, would be limited to border crossings into Canada.

The State and Homeland Security departments estimate that at least 6.2 million would need the cards, at a cost of about $668 million in the first year.

However, "use of this alternative passport card was rejected for the air and sea environments for a number of reasons," according to the narrative contained within the pending WHTI rule. For instance, the card would not comport to certain international requirement standards for documentation.

Furthermore, the proposed PASS card, at this stage, exists primarily on the U.S. governments' drawing board.

Nevertheless, the TIA contends that the PASS card should be available to cruise passengers as an alternative to a regular passport.

Between regular head counts and cruise security, Dow said, "The people who get off the boat [at various ports of call] are the same people who get on the boat. So the risk of some bad person getting on the boat is nil."

Dow said that now that the government has issued the proposed final rule, the industry has 45 days to comment on it. So sometime in October or even November, it is conceivable that the final rule will be in place.

Depending on the comments, the government could decide to move the date for passports further back or change the proposed rule in some way.

Meanwhile, "That means a cruise [passenger] has no idea what" documentation they will need come January, Dow said.

In many cases, cruise lines and travel agents have been informing cruise passengers that passports will be required when traveling out of the U.S. But the TIA contends a larger, government effort is needed to get the word out to travelers.

Against that backdrop, Dow said, the travel industry is lobbying lawmakers for "a modest extension" to the passport rule.

The rule is part of a law, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act, passed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Under the law, the passport requirement is to be fully in place by Jan. 1, 2008.

In an effort to ramp up to the deadline, the State and Homeland Security departments decided to beginning putting the passport requirement in place initially on Jan. 1, 2007 and now, under the proposed rule, on Jan. 8, 2007.

The travel industry contends that the government needs until June 2009 to prepare to both promote the passport and to move the PASS card off the drawing board and into the hands of travelers.

An immigration bill now pending in the Senate includes a provision that would push back the date for full implementation of the WHTI from Jan. 1, 2008 to June 1, 2009.

Dow said the travel industry supports the WHTI and the passport requirement from travelers crossing U.S. borders.

"The question is when and how," he said. "We've got to have the right documents and the right communication."

To contact reporter Michael Milligan, send e-mail to [email protected].