Passports required for all global travel

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which goes into effect Jan. 1, requires passports for travelers by air or sea to the Caribbean, and Central and South Americas. The regulations will be extended by Jan. 1, 2007, to include air and sea travel to Canada and Mexico, and also will apply to border crossings by 2008.

The new requirements are an attempt by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials to prevent unauthorized entry to and exit from the United States, thereby helping to thwart possible terrorist activity.

The new regulations are in response to the 2004 Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. That act mandated that the U.S. secretaries of Homeland Security and State develop and implement a plan requiring citizens to present appropriate documents when entering the United States. Passports already are required for travel to and from Asia, Africa and Europe.

“By ensuring that travelers possess secure documents, such as the passport, Homeland Security will be able to conduct more effective and efficient interviews at our borders,” said Randy Beardsworth, Homeland Security acting under secretary for border and transportation security, in a news release.

Donna Cambridge is co-owner and president of Chesterfield Cruise and Travel, which traces 90 percent of its business to leisure travel, according to the 2005 SBJ Book of Lists. Cambridge said the new regulations are a small hassle to travelers – most are concerned with the $97 fee for a neew passport.

“After they get over the shock of the $97, when we explain to them that it’s for Homeland Security to combat terrorism, they like the idea,” she said.

She added that having a passport substantially reduces the time it takes to get through the security process when entering or leaving this country.

“When you use a birth certificate and follow it up with a driver’s license or government-issued ID, it is a lengthy process,” Cambridge said. “Travelers like the idea that the passports will quicken that process.”

Deana Crouch, executive vice president of leisure sales for Great Southern Travel, said she always has advised potential international travelers, especially women, to obtain passports.

“If you’re a woman, you have to have a birth certificate, and if you’ve been divorced, you have to have a whole paper trail (detailing) how many times your name has changed,” Crouch said. “So I’ve been telling women it’s a lot easier if you get your passport – it’s good for 10 years, it speeds the process up, and then you don’t have to worry about having all the right paperwork.”

Having the proper documentation is not something that should be sloughed off. Both U.S. and foreign officials are cracking down on border security. Cambridge said the responsibility for having proper documentation falls on the traveler.

“People get angry with us when we have to impose the rules of immigration and Customs,” she said. “It is (the traveler’s) responsibility – it’s not the travel agent’s or the airline’s. We can advise you on what paperwork is required, but we can’t go to your home and force you to put the paperwork in your belongings.”