Travelers wait to show passport proof in this 2008 photo in Cancun.
Long gone are the days of simply telling the guards at the borders you are a U.S. citizen while they merrily wave you through.
Now you’ll need proof.
Starting Monday, a passport will be required to get back into the U.S. if you’ve been traveling in foreign lands, according to a report at KOVA.com.
Passport soon required to re-enter US
New travel laws…require citizens to show a passport or passport card to get back into the US by land and sea from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean and Bermuda.
The rule change is part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
It’s a 2004 law that’s part of recommendations from the 9-11 commission.
The rules apply to everyone, including children. Read story: www.kvoa.com/global/story.asp?s=10442531
The change may have taken five years, but it’s a positive change just the same.
Passports are wonderful pieces of documentation for several reasons:
• How else can you flit off to France at the drop of a hat?
• They are easier to keep track of than the tattered, dog-eared birth certificate
• They serve as a little scrapbook of all the exotic places you’ve been
• The photos always look better than those that end up on the driver’s license
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Do you care about this new travel requirement?
Do you and your children have passports?
If so, is your photo better than the one on your driver’s license?