New cards are a chip off the old passport — and cheaper

You're driving to the U.S. border with Canada.

A chip embedded in a plastic card in your pocket begins emitting radio waves that tell the border guard who you are 20 feet before you arrive.

This is not the future. It's in the works now.

It's called a passport card, and the U.S. government is offering it as a cheaper alternative to a passport for Americans visiting Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda by land or sea. A passport card can't be used in any other areas or for any international air travel; a traditional passport is required for all international air travel, including to Canada.

The cards are set to be ready by spring, but U.S. citizens can apply for them now. An adult passport costs $100; an adult passport card costs $45. A child's passport is $85; the passport card costs $35.

The passport card has a chip that contains an encoded ID number that border guards can read using radio frequency identification, or RFID, scanners.

Traditional U.S. passports already use chip technology, but the chip's range is about 4 inches and cannot be read when the passport book is closed, according to information supplied by the U.S. State Department. (The State Department has maintained the passport-book chip is secure from identity theft, but some critics contend use of the chip raises privacy issues.)

Tougher border ID rules

The U.S. government has been tightening travel-ID rules since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, under what's called the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Eventually passports (or approved alternatives such as the passport card or Washington State's new enhanced driver's license/ID card, which serves both as ID and proof of citizenship) will be required for all travel, perhaps as early as June 2009.

As an interim step, since Jan. 31 this year, all travelers crossing land/sea borders between the U.S. and Canada are required to have proof of citizenship — a birth certificate if they don't have a passport.

Changes in travel requirements have significantly increased the number of passport applications.

"In 2008, we are expecting a significant increase in passport applications, which includes applications for the passport card. In fiscal year 2007, over 18 million passports were issued nationwide. In fiscal year 2008, the projections are that the demand will increase to over 21 million," said Teresa Bobotek, regional director of the Seattle Passport Agency.

Hundreds of new employees are being hired to process passports/passport cards, said Bobotek. Processing time for a passport/passport card currently is four to six weeks; that could increase if demand for passports increases for summertime travel.

• Get details on applying for a passport or a passport card at www.travel.state.gov/passport or phone 877-487-2778.

• Get information on applying for Washington state's enhanced driver's license or ID card, which serve as alternative ID for land/sea border crossings to Canada, at www.dol.wa.gov, or phone 866-520-4365.

Kristin Jackson of Seattle Times Travel contributed to this report.