News that the State Department has modified its passport requirements for U.S. citizens traveling to several popular destinations is coming as a relief to the summer vacation crowd. But is it enough?
Late last week, under immense pressure from travelers, lawmakers and its own employees, the government announced that U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda who have applied for but not yet received passports can still enter and depart from the United States by air with a government issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application.
That just doesn’t cut it.
First, the grace period ends on Sept. 30, 2007. We need more time.
What happens on Oct. 1, especially if the “record-breaking” demand (their words) for passports continues? The State Department’s passport FAQs offer no meaningful answer.
But if the past six months is any indication, it’s likely that we’ll just go back to what we had before: chaos.
The days leading up to the June 8 announcement were completely insane, from my vantage point. Thanks to my State Department contacts, I was able to help numerous travelers get their passports just in time for their overseas trips. But many more readers wrote in to tell me about their ruined vacations, and complained about the fact that they had absolutely no way to get a refund.
I certainly hope the backlog of applications gets cleared away by this fall. I’m skeptical, though. There is no public source that lists the number of passport applications received versus processed, but in this online Q&A with Maura Harty, the assistant secretary for consular affairs, it’s clear that that the agency will process as many as 13 million this year — and probably many, many more.
That’s a lot of ruined trips, potentially.
The second (and in my mind larger) problem is that the travel business has been largely indifferent to the plight of passport laggards. I think the industry — especially the airlines — should consider waiving their change fees for travelers whose passports haven’t arrived on time. Hotels shouldn’t punish travelers with cancellation fees, and cruise lines ought to offer generous credits.
How about it, guys?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I am a travel agent and I do not think that people without passports (except for emergencies) should be given a break. Don’t forget the State Dept. announced the new passport policy long before it went into effect. Then, they delayed it which, I think, made people drag their feet even more. One other comment–if you can’t afford a passport, you probably can’t afford the trip!! We are one of (if not the only) country that has not needed a passport from the day you are born–people are just spoiled.
But, I also put a bit of blame on the government–they knew what a mess it was going to be, so why not hire some extra personnel and move things along faster–but, then that would cost money.
If everyone else in the world needs a passport to enter the U.S.A., doesn’t it make sense that Americans should have one to travel abroad? FYI, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda are not part of the U.S. even if they do allow entry from the U.S. without a passport.
Blame the Passport Service for slow processing but also take some blame yourselves for not realizing a passport is your ticket to the world.
The good news is Hawaii and New Mexico are part of the U.S. so a passport is not needed to travel there.
This past January, sent in my valid passport for my forth renewal. It took TEN WEEKS to get my new pass port, just in time for my 19 day cruise…
Hey, my middle name is procrastination, and granted, getting a passport can be a little time consuming, but we ALL know how ALL governments work – VERY VERY SLOWLY. Although I had a passport ages ago, I did have to renew mine. You have to do it early and we were told well in advance that it would be required. Even if you haven’t planned a trip, you know you might in the future. So get the damned passport, be glad we have a government that operates marginally well, though slowly and stop bitchin’ because YOU waited till the last minute.