Thread: Passport Reminder

From the RCL website:




Effective December 31, 2006 the U.S. Government's Intelligence Reform Bill requires passports for all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda. Don't risk disrupting your travel plans! If you are planning travel for 2007 or beyond, please take a minute to review the new regulations below. If you don't already have a valid passport, be sure to avoid the rush and give yourself plenty of time to apply for one. Once you've got a passport in hand, the whole world is yours to explore.

Guests sailing in mid December 2006 whose itinerary transits or ends its voyage in the United States on or after December 31, 2006 will be required to present a valid passport during ship check-in formalities.
Guests sailing on or after December 31, 2006 will be required to present a valid passport during ship check-in formalities.Guests not holding a valid passport should apply for one as soon as possible.
Guests holding ARC/Green Card are exempt.

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 requires that by January 1, 2008, travelers to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Panama, Mexico and Canada have a passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States. In order to facilitate the implementation of this requirement, the Administration is proposing to complete it in phases following a proposed timeline, which will be published in the Federal Register in the near future.
In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed timeline will be as follows:

• January 8, 2007 - Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
• December 31, 2007 - Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel.

This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all United States citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. This new requirement will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States. Most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and to a lesser degree, Mexican citizens will be affected by the implementation of this requirement.

It looks like the only change is moving the initial air-sea
implementation date from 1 Jan 2007 to 8 Jan 2007.

Reggie

So, guess this means there is an 8-day extension?
Interesting...

Oceangoing Americans get a passport reprieve

Posted 10/5/2006 6:40 PM ET
By Gene Sloan, USA TODAY

Good news for cruisers: Congress has delayed a new rule that required Americans re-entering the USA by sea to have passports for all international voyages starting in January. Under heavy pressure from the travel industry, which feared a slowdown in bookings, Congress voted to push back the deadline as far as 2009.

For now, Americans sailing to foreign destinations only need government-issued identification such as a driver's license or a birth certificate to re-enter the United States. The change doesn't affect Americans traveling by air, who must begin carrying passports to all international destinations on Jan. 8, including places in the Caribbean and Canada where until now it hasn't been necessary.