Military Travel, hottest travel destinations - Military Times

Headed for the border? Take your passport

American service members planning a quick trip across the border to Tijuana, a vacation to Canada or even a Caribbean cruise had better pay attention to new, tougher requirements for identification at the border.

For years, troops and civilians who visited Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean islands were exempt from presenting identity papers at U.S. borders and seaports.

Then, in January 2007, U.S. Customs and Border Protection began requiring passports for air arrivals from those nations.

Now, U.S. service members returning by land or sea from those nations need passports or other secure ID — passport cards, Enhanced Driver’s Licenses or “trusted traveler’’ cards — unless travelers are on certain exempt cruises. Military IDs and common access cards do not qualify, according to the State Department.

(If you are traveling with official orders and in uniform, your military ID will suffice. Some service members stationed near the Mexican border require command permission before crossing as civilians; check with your commanding officer before making a trip across the border.)

The various valid entry cards and information on how to get them are detailed on a Customs and Border Protection Web site.

The stepped-up requirements are the final phase of a Department of Homeland Security/State Department antiterrorism policy called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. The law has been enacted in stages, with numerous delays because of concerns the rules might interfere with tourism and commerce.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said she knows some Americans are unaware of the new requirements or haven’t gotten around to getting a passport, which can take a month or longer.

“We’ll work with them at the border,’’ she told reporters in May.

Customs and Border Protection agents will verify citizenship of people without proper documentation by using government databases and other tools. Joanne Ferreira, a spokeswoman for the agency, said those without proper paperwork will be given “noncompliance notices” — a written warning without consequences — before they are allowed into the country.

“People may be delayed,” she said, “but we’re not going to deny entry to U.S. citizens.”

Those with passport cards, enhanced licenses and other cards embedded with identity information can use scanners to speed their trips through some checkpoints.

Federal agencies handed out 6 million fliers in recent months to warn travelers that they will need more secure documents.

A record 30 percent of all Americans hold passports, the State Department says. But applications, which had been rising, are down in this recessionary year (7.1 million issued through April versus 10.3 million in the same period last year).

The cost of an adult passport ($100 purchased in person; $75 by mail) or passport card ($45 for first-time adult purchasers; $20 by mail) and the wait to get them may deter some vacationers.

Cruisers who begin and end their trips in the same U.S. port are not required to show passports on re-entry under the new law. Technically, they can use a government photo ID such as a driver’s license or a military ID.

A spokesperson with the State Department said that American service members returning from Mexico or Canada in civilian clothes must present a valid passport.

What you need to cross the border

Beginning this month, a birth certificate or military ID will no longer suffice as proof of citizenship for American travelers ages 16 or older who re-enter the country by land or sea from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda or the Caribbean. The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative requires a passport or equivalent papers. The list of acceptable documents for land and sea travelers includes the following:

• Passports: The standard citizenship proof for travelers, recognized worldwide.

• Passport cards: They’re cheaper and look like a driver’s license, but they require the same background information as a passport. The card is accepted at land and sea ports for travelers from Canada and Mexico but is not allowed for air travel.

• Enhanced Driver’s Licenses: Michigan, New York, Vermont and Washington state issue special motorist licenses embedded with technology that refers border agents to a stored record in a government database.

• Trusted Traveler cards: Secure Electronic Network for Travelers Rapid Inspection cards allow expedited passage through border crossings from Mexico for pre-approved applicants who have undergone extensive background checks.

• Special groups: Children under 16 may use birth certificates as proof of citizenship when entering the U.S. at land and sea ports from contiguous territories.

• Service members: Troops traveling in uniform with official orders can still use their military IDs to re-enter the country; service members in civilian clothes will need one of the forms of ID previously listed.

Source: U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

U.S. border by the numbers

• Daily: About 1.1 million vehicle passengers, pedestrians, boat passengers and air travelers are processed each day by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents.

• Border crossings: 327 entry ports, 144 Border Patrol stations and 35 permanent checkpoints.

• Coverage: 1,900 miles of border shared with Mexico; 5,000 miles with Canada and 95,000 miles of U.S. shoreline.

• Passports: About 91 million Americans have passports.

• Passport cards: More than 1 million cards that can be swiped on an electronic reader have been issued.

Sources: U.S. Customs and Border Protection; states of New York, Michigan, Vermont and Washington.