U.S. Authorities May Put Off Caribbean Passport Rule to 2007

Americans may get an extra year before needing a passport to return from the Caribbean, according to a senior U.S. State Department undersecretary. If that much-discussed delay occurs, U.S. citizens will not need passports coming home from Caribbean trips until December 31, 2006, according to the official, who said the delay is "highly likely" and may be announced by month´s end.

The delay to the Caribbean deadline would put it on the same effective date as travelers returning from Canada and Mexico.

"We´ve listened to a lot of input from travelers, travel agents, airlines, cruise lines that said that by requiring passports to return from one region we were favoring those areas where passports weren´t needed because people would vacation there instead," said Frank Moss, deputy assistant secretary for consular affairs, which oversees State Department passport operations.

If implemented, the postponement retains the status quo, allowing U.S. travelers to return without a passport from the popular cruise ship and vacation area that includes Puerto Rico and the U.S. and British Virgin Islands until the end of next year.

The new effective date would make the Caribbean requirement for a passport coincide with the one mandating a passport to return by ship or plane from Canada and Mexico. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 established travel document requirements known as the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

The State and Homeland Security departments in April announced passport requirements to comply with the law requiring U.S. citizens to have valid passports to reenter the county from anywhere by December 31, 2007.

The final step requires motorists and their passengers to have passports for North American border crossings. Meanwhile, State Department and Homeland Security officials are developing an identification card for frequent border crossers, such as those living in Michigan. It would be less expensive but still have the unquestioned veracity of a passport.