U.S. citizens are required to have a passport for visiting any destination outside of the United States. This now will include Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, whether visited by sea or by air.
If you are planning to travel outside of the Western Hemisphere by air, you are required to have a passport. Additionally, as of June 1, 2009, a passport (or other accepted document) will be required for U.S. citizens who travel by air, sea and land to and from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America, Canada and Mexico.
If you currently have a passport, keep in mind your passport needs to be valid for at least six months beyond your return date to the U.S.
Passports are issued for adults for a period of ten years (and for five years for children).
We also note spot checks have been made for persons visiting Canada who may have with a DUI (driving under the influence) on their record, and that there have been incidences of such persons being delayed and/or denied entry into Canada.
For more information on the passport initiative and how it may affect you, please visit the State Department's consular website travel.state.gov or the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's web site www.dhs.gov.
For more information about applying for a passport, U.S. citizens may visit travel.state.gov or call the National Passport Infomration Center toll free at 1-877-4USA-PPT or TDD/TYY: 1-888-874-7793. You can also use our preferred agency, A Briggs, to process or renew a passport, add additional pages to a passport, get a second passport, or apply for a visa (all details are available on the website.)
Foreign nationals (non U.S. citizens) should contact their respective governments to obtain passports and for advice on what documents are required for traveling from and returning to the United States.
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New Fees Proposed by State Department |
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The State Department has proposed new fees for many of its passport related products and services. The total proposed cost of a new passport will increase from $100 to $135 for adults and from $85 to $105 for minors. Renewals will increase from $75 to $110 for adults and from $60 to $80 for minors. Travelers needing extra visa pages will soon pay $82. Currently this service is free, therefore you might want to alert your customers who are frequent travelers that may be in need of extra visa pages to submit an application right away.
While no formal implementation date has been given for the changes, the State has indicated that it intends to implement the new fees once it has had time to consider public comments. The public comment period for the proposed fees ends on March 11, 2010.
Department of State’s Proposed Fees of its Major Products and Services
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Product / Service |
Current Fee |
Proposed
New Fee |
Percentage Increase |
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Adult Passport |
$55 |
$70 |
27% |
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Minor Passport |
$40 |
$40 |
0% |
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Passport Security Surcharge |
$20 |
$40 |
100% |
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First Passport & Passport Card Application Processing |
$25 |
$25 |
0% |
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Additional Passport Visa Pages |
$0 |
$82 |
Undefined |
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Adult Passport Card Application |
$20 |
$30 |
50% |
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Minor Passport Card Application |
$10 |
$15 |
50% |
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File Search and Verification of US Citizenship |
$60 |
$150 |
150% |
The proposed rules and complete fee chart can be found at: www.regulations.gov
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