Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing “The Star-Spangled Banner” or naming the president is not going to get you back into the country next year.
Beginning Jan. 31, oral declarations of one’s citizenship at U.S. land ports of entry will no longer be acceptable to re-enter the country from Canada and Mexico.
The changes are part of the Homeland Security Department’s Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, following recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. Congress passed the new requirements in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
A glut of passport applications filed last spring, after they became mandatory for air travelers, caused a six- to 12-week backlog. So travelers were allowed to use their passport receipt as proof of compliance with the new regulation.
Ann Barrett, the State Department’s deputy assistant secretary for passport services, said there are no plans to make the same concession at the land ports of entry next year.
Starting Jan. 31, anyone returning to the United States from Canada or Mexico through a land port of entry must present a U.S. passport or a U.S. birth certificate plus valid government-issued identification, such as a driver’s license. Passports will become the only accepted form of ID on an as-yet-undetermined date next year.
Alternately, passport cards will be available starting in spring 2008 for U.S. citizens who don’t travel by air or sea and just cross the border occasionally. The cost will be $45 versus $97 for a passport.
You can get a passport at a number of facilities including many federal, state and probate courts, post offices, some public libraries and a number of county and municipal offices.
You’ll need two photographs of yourself; proof of U.S. citizenship; a valid photo identification such as a driver’s license; and $97. If you are behind in child-support payments, you may not be able to obtain a passport.
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