Homeland Security Eases Passport Rules for Kids

Although passports will be required for all adults entering the U.S. by next January, birth certificates will suffice for kids coming by land or sea, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

That will save families $82 per child, the cost of acquiring a child’s passport, and make it easier for sports teams and school groups to cross the border.

Rules that went into effect three months ago mandated passports for all adults entering the U.S. by air but delayed the requirement for those entering by land or sea until the start of 2008.

Because children are considered low security risks, relaxing the requirements for kids was a no-brainer, according to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

Tourism officials, initially worried that requiring kids to acquire passports would discourage tourism and hurt the economy, applauded the decision.

Specifically, the new regulations state that children up to age 15 who are American or Canadian citizens and have parental consent need only show a birth certificate to enter the U.S.

Kids aged 16-18 can use birth certificates if they’re part of a group supervised by adults, such as sports teams or religious gatherings.

Children still must show passports if trying to enter the U.S. by air — except for arrivals from such U.S. territories as Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands. That rule went into effect Jan. 23 in an effort to tighten security.

Because only 27 per cent of Americans had passports at the start of 2007, the rules sparked a deluge of applications and produced a predictable processing backlog. Since the average waiting time for passports is 10-12 weeks, anyone planning summer travel overseas should have applied by now.

During the last fiscal year, more than 12 million Americans received new passports.

To expedite foreign travel for this summer and beyond, the Department of Homeland Security is considering approval of an ID card embedded with 21st-century technology that makes forgery impossible. The so-called Passport Card would be acceptable in lieu of a passport at air gateways and border crossings.

Consumers will like it: it’s cheaper and easier to obtain than a passport.

Source – Consumer Afairs