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BISBEE — Applicants have recently begun receiving the new passport cards, and although some workers at ports of entry have not yet seen the documents in use, officials say they are prepared for them.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require people to show a passport book, passport card or equivalent document in order to pass through a land or sea port of entry as of June 2009.
Production of the passport cards began July 14. So far, more than 350,000 applications for them have been received and adjudicated. People who submitted an application for the cards prior to production will receive them between now and early September, according to the U.S. Department of State’s Web site.
“Our officers are aware that the applications have been accepted since February, and we are starting to see the cards at the ports of entry now,” said Brian Levin, spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Tucson. “We have been training on what the cards are going to look like and what the security features are.”
 The new U.S. passport cards look like this. They are not for air travel. (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) |
The passport card facilitates entry and expedites document processing at U.S. land and sea ports of entry for people arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used for travel by air. It is intended for residents of border communities who want a less expensive and more portable alternative to a traditional passport book, according to the site.
Both the card and the book are valid for the same amount of time: 10 years for an adult and five years for children 15 and younger. Adults who already have a valid passport book may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.
The passport card comes with a protective sleeve. The State Department encourages people to keep the card in the sleeve when it is not in use. The card contains a vicinity-read radio frequency identification chip, but there is no personal information on it.
“As we get the technology in place at the ports of entry, the chip will link into our systems at the port,” Levin said. “There is a number that is on the chip that links to a number in our systems that allows us to very quickly pull up the information that was submitted to the Department of State when you applied for the card and run all the queries that we need to on the information that is available to us and display the results for our officer on the primary lane.”
The differences and similarities between the two options for border-crossing documents:
Passport book
Valid for travel by air, sea and land.
• Validity: 10 years for adults, 5 years for minors
• Size: 5 inches by 3 1/2 inches when unopened
• Cost for first-time applicants: $100 for adults, $85 for minors
• Cost for U.S. Passport book renewal: $75 for adults.
Passport card
Not for travel by air, it is valid for land and sea crossings between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean only.
• Validity: 10 years for adults, 5 years for minors
• Size: Wallet size
• Cost for first-time applicants: $45 for adults, $35 for minors
• Cost for U.S. Passport book holders: $20 for adults.
If applying for both document at the same time, the cost for first-time applicants is $120 for adults and $95 for minors.
For information, visit http://travel.state.gov/passport.
Source: U.S. Department of State
Herald/Review reporter Jonathon Shacat can be reached at 515-4693 or by e-mail at jonathon.shacat@bisbeereview.net.
