Passport now required for some air travel

U.S. citizens now required to have passport for air travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean

Minnesotans that U.S. citizens are now required to have a passport to travel by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

The rule took effect Monday.

Earlier this year, U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman worked closely with the State Department to address the concerns stemming from an unprecedented backlog in passport applications that overwhelmed processing centers after the air travel phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative took effect in January. To date, Coleman’s constituent service staff has assisted more than 3,000 Minnesotans facing uncertainty, potential loss of money and important family time as a result of delays in their passport applications over recent months. State Department officials have briefed Coleman and other legislators to announce that they now have the capacity to process passports on a more timely basis.

Coleman will continue to monitor the situation and encourages any Minnesotans facing delays to contact his office.

Coleman has also introduced legislation to ensure that this problem does not recur when passports or new passport cards become necessary for travel by land or sea, which could take effect as early as summer 2008

The Western Hemisphere Traveler Improvement Act requires the Secretary of State to certify capacity to process passports within eight weeks before moving ahead with the land phase of WHTI.  In June, the departments announced a phased-in approach to the 2008 deadline, to permit a birth certificate for children and a driver’s license and birth certificate for adults beginning in January 2008 until a determination is made to require alternative documentation for land a sea travel only.  Children will not be required to obtain passports under the Administration’s proposal. Legislation pending in Congress would not allow this transition to occur until June 2009.

During the crunch in passport applications, Coleman met with the top State Department official in charge of the passport process and pressed for quick action to address the massive backlog. He also held a meeting with the Treasury Department, which is in charge of passport payments, and had been similarly delayed in their processing. In June, the U.S. Departments of State and Homeland Security announced a temporary suspension through September 30, 2007 of the passport requirement for U.S. citizens traveling by air to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda, and the Caribbean with government issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application for a passport.