Expedited Passports

Borders are, for the most part, imaginary lines in the sand.  For a long time, the border between the US and Canada was just that-an imaginary line in the dirt.  Communities grew up that straddled the border, different towns in name only.

For example, Stanstead, Canada and Derby Line, Vermont are technically two towns, but they were a single community until June of this year, when the imaginary line in the dirt turned into a real border that requires a passport to cross.

Plus, barricades have been set up to separate the towns, cutting off people that still consider each other neighbors.

In an article posted by AFP, Raymond Fluet, a resident of Stanstead, said that “It used to be a friendly place. The people on both sides of the border, they’re our parents, our friends, our cousins. This is home for all of us. But because of the crackdown, we don’t go visit as often.”

However, according to the mayor of Stanstead, not everyone passing through town was quite so neighborly:

“There was a lot of traffic. People used these roads to smuggle drugs, tobacco or alcohol, even illegal immigrants into the United States.”

The bottom line is that the new passport regulations are here to stay. If you plan on crossing the border into either Mexico or Canada, you will need to apply for a new passport if you don’t have one already.

When you make travel plans, make sure to allow enough time for your new passport to arrive. Typically, it takes at least 6 weeks for your passport application to be processed if you request regular processing, and 3 weeks if you request the government’s expedited service at the post office.

To get your passport faster, you can make an appointment at a US passport agency office or use a private passport expediting service. An expediting service is often the most convenient option, since you don’t have to make an appointment or wait in line.

Let RushMyPassport.com help you apply for your new passport today!

The Department of State put a lot of effort into publicizing the changes to US travel requirements that became law on June 1st. They added a clock to US Passport Agency’s web site, counting down to the second when the new rules would go into effect. They made announcement after announcement, starting months ahead of time.

However, for all their outreach, there were at least 2 people that the State Department failed to reach with their warnings: Former US Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.  The two ex-presidents were asked about the new requirements during a joint appearance in Toronto on Saturday, May 29th.

As reported in the Winnepeg Free Press, here’s how they responded:

“I’ll be frank with you Frank, I don’t know about the passport issue,” Bush told the crowd of 6,000.

“I thought we were making good progress on using a driver’s licence to cross the border. What happened to the easy-pass card?”

Clinton too said he’d only heard about the passport requirement a day earlier, adding that in all likelihood most Americans were completely unaware of it as well.

Apparently, our two former presidents would have benefited from reading our blog! The new requirements were put into place as part of the final phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). To sum them up:

• All adult American citizens traveling to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean must have a US passport or another document approved by Homeland Security to get back into the country. Previously, you could use your driver’s license and a birth certificate if you were crossing by land or by sea, but that is no longer the case.
• Children under the age of 16 can use a birth certificate when traveling by land or sea.
• Children ages 16-18 can use a birth certificate when traveling by land or sea as part of an organized, chaperoned group, like a sports group or school group.
• Passengers of any age can use a driver’s license and birth certificate (or naturalization certificate) if they are on a closed-loop cruise that begins and ends in the same US port.
• Air passengers of any age need a US Passport Book.

If you need a passport to travel to Mexico, Canada or the Caribbean, you should be prepared to wait. It’s currently taking at least 4 to 6 weeks to process a passport application submitted with standard processing. New passport applications submitted using the government’s expediting service take at least 2-3 weeks, and that’s if you pony up the cash for overnight shipping to and from the Passport Agency.

Can’t wait that long? A private passport expediting company is a convenient way to get your passport more quickly. An expediting company hand-delivers your application materials and then sends you your new passport. Because your application goes to the top of the stack, it gets processed much more quickly-in as little as 24 hours!

Don’t let the new passport regulations interfere with your summer vacation-order your passport now!

Businesses on both sides of the Mexican and Canadian borders are concerned about the potential impact of new passport laws for travelers crossing into Mexico and Canada by land or sea. At one time, you didn’t need a passport to travel to Mexico or Canada. However, in 2007, under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, the government began requiring passports for people re-entering the US from Mexico or Canada by air. Starting in June of 2009, the government will also require passports for people traveling to Mexico, Canada and Bermuda by land and sea.

As MSNBC reports, businesses that depend on tourists from across the Mexican and Canadian borders are concerned that the new requirements may adversely affect on their business. For example, the MSBNC report notes that at the Jay Peak Ski Resort in Vermont, almost half of the visitors are Canadian.  Resort owners fear that many of these visitors are not yet aware of the new passport requirements for driving across the border, which could cause people without passports to change or even cancel their travel plans.

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