U.S. eases passport requirement for some travelers to Canada, Mexico

The United States is easing its requirement that travelers to Canada and Mexico who use land border crossings must get passports.

Instead, it will issue a cheaper, new identification card by the end of this year, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today in a Washington, D.C., speech.

To be called the PASS card (People Access Security Service), it will be issued to registered travelers and will unify the pre-screening systems already used for some frequent travelers at the Canadian and Mexican border.

U.S. citizens who travel to and from Canada and Mexico by plane or boat still would be required to have passports by the beginning of next year.

Information

U.S. State Dept. For background on the passport requirements (not yet updated with today's announcement), see www.travel.state.gov There's also a timeline for Caribbean and Panama travel-document requirements.

Changes, text of speech : See www.state.gov for the text of the speech by Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security Secretary.

Officials and residents of border communities had complained that the passport requirement would be too expensive and cumbersome for people who regularly travel between the countries, especially at busy highway border crossings such as those between Western Washington and British Columbia and Southern California and Mexico. Business groups have been especially concerned, and impacts on tourism were feared.

Legislation passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to strengthen security at border crossings included requirements for U.S. citizens to have secure documentation, such as passports, when traveling between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico by the beginning of 2007. The new cards will meet that requirement. (Currently travelers can enter Canada with proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, and photo ID.)

"