If you’re traveling outside the U.S. in 2009, here are two pieces of advice: Get or renew your passport now, and think twice before planning a car trip to Mexico or Canada in June.
That’s when we may see the biggest change ever for Western Hemisphere travel. Starting June 1 Americans will need to show a passport, a passport card or other special document to return to the U.S. from Mexico and Canada.
What you need now: You need a passport to enter the U.S. by air from any foreign country. If you enter by land or sea from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda, you may not need a passport, but you do need at least a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship, plus a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license.
Children 18 or younger need only a birth certificate for land and sea entry from these areas.
What you’ll need starting June 1: The same rules apply for air travel — passport required.
If you’re arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean or Bermuda by land or sea, you’ll generally have several choices: a passport; a passport card, a new type of ID that the U.S. government began issuing in 2008; an enhanced driver’s license, a new high-tech version offered by a few states, or a “Trusted Traveler” cards such as SENTRI and NEXUS for frequent border crossers.
Passengers on cruise ships that sail round-trip from a U.S. port may need only a birth certificate and a government-issued photo ID (although the cruise line or foreign countries they visit may require a passport). You’ll find a summary of the current and new rules at a website maintained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, .
How to get the right stuff: The State Department’s travel website, ., (click on “Passports for U.S. Citizens”) is one-stop shopping for information on passports and passport cards. It has instructions and forms.
But you don’t have to go to Washington or even to a regional passport agency to get these documents.
If you’re renewing a passport, you can download the form from the State Department website and mail it in. If it’s your first time, you can visit any one of thousands of “passport acceptance facilities,” such as post offices, to get what you need.
A passport costs $100 for adults and $85 for children younger than 16 (renewals are less); a passport card costs $45 for adults and $35 for children younger than 16.
It’s recently been taking about three weeks to process applications, the State Department says, but allow more time to make sure you get your passport.
The bottom line: A passport gives you the most flexibility; it’s good everywhere.
To save money, you might consider a passport card if you plan to cross into nearby countries only by land or sea, or as an extra ID.
