AFP Published: Monday June 25, 2007
Buried under an avalanche of passport applications created by its own rules changes, the United States has delayed the start date of a new policy requiring the documents for travel to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean.
In a nod to terror concerns in a post-September 11 America, new travel restrictions would require passports for Americans traveling to and from Mexico, Canada and some Caribbean nations.
The new rules break with a longstanding policy requiring just a piece of government-issued identification for travel within the region -- more often than not, a driver's license was deemed sufficient.
But US officials revised that policy this year, amid growing concern about potential terror threats and burgeoning illegal immigration.
Officials said the United States is vulnerable to attack -- particularly via Canada from terrorists pretending to be Canadians or returning American tourists who could roll through border crossings with little or no document inspection.
But travelers trying to comply with the more stringent passport rules have been stymied by serpentine lines and four-month-long backlogs.
The US government admits to being weeks behind in its efforts to process requests for as many as two million new and renewed passports this travel season.
"We simply did not anticipate American citizens' willingness to comply so quickly with the new law," said Maura Harty, assistant secretary of State for consular affairs, speaking before a US Senate commitee last week.
The delays have wreaked havoc with newlyweds trying to plan their honeymoons and vacationers plotting long anticipated summer travel.
Meanwhile US lawmakers have been inundated with complaints from irate constituents.
"This is really inexcusable," groused US Senator David Vitter at the hearing.
"This is an example of the ineptness that absolutely destroys Americans' confidence in the federal government doing anything right."
Travelers with tickets for flights to Mexico or Canada are finding that it takes up to 10 weeks to process their passport applications, compared to the usual six weeks during non-crunch times.
More expensive "expedited" passports these days, which usually take no more than two weeks, are taking about twice as long as usual.
In a concession to irate travelers, US officials have delayed implementing the rules until Septemeber -- the end of the peak holiday travel season.
Through the end of September, travelers will be allowed to fly to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean with a passport application receipt and a valid government ID through September.
Meanwhile, Congress earlier this month took action to prevent similar chaos at US border crossings, office by delaying the implementation of passport requirement for drivers until June 2009.
More than 74 million Americans currently are holders of US passports which are valid for a period of ten years. About one million US citizens get passports each month, the State Department said.
The State Department has said it expects to issue 17 million passports this fiscal year ending September 30, up from 12 million in 2006.
Once the new rules are fully operational, Americans will need passports when flying home from anywhere in the world, and beginning in 2008, they will need them at international land and sea borders as well.