New passport rules hitting close to home - Air travel to Canada, Mexico to be affected

New passport rules hitting close to home - Air travel to Canada, Mexico to be affected
By Emma Graves Fitzsimmons
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published January 12, 2007

Travel agents and airlines hope Americans have heard the news that in less than two weeks, flights to Mexico and Canada will for the first time require passports.

As the Jan. 23 changeover approaches, federal officials have seen applications surge and have churned out passports with additional staff.

"Obviously, the message is getting out," said Derwood Staeben, a senior adviser at the U.S. State Department. "We knew this was coming, and we're prepared for it."

Starting Jan. 23, air travel between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America and the Caribbean will require a passport. In many cases, a birth certificate and driver's license had previously sufficed. No passport is needed for travelers flying between the U.S. and its territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.

The new rule, a provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, aims to strengthen border security, officials said. Next year, land and sea travel will require passports as well.

Only 70 million U.S. citizens, or about one-quarter of the population, have a valid passport, according to figures from the State Department.

But that number is increasing. In the last fiscal year, 12.1 million passports were issued, up about 20 percent from the previous year.

To raise awareness about the change, Chicago post offices have held "passport fairs" and trained more staff members to process applications.

The air travel industry, from American Airlines to Expedia, has spread the word through booking agents, Web sites and confirmation e-mails.

There were no lines this week when Dan Karpiak, 51, applied for his first passport at the Daley Center passport office. He hadn't bothered to get a passport before because he didn't plan to travel outside the country beyond Mexico and Canada, he said.

"I don't have immediate travel plans. But I wanted to make sure I was covered just in case," said Karpiak, of La Grange.

Some fear the news may not have reached other travelers like Karpiak.

For more than a year, Chicago travel agent Heidi Schumann of Travel Center Tours has told customers to get a passport. But she worries that passengers who booked tickets online could skim over the warning.

"People will be denied boarding if they don't have proper documentation, and they'll be disappointed about their trip," she said. "We could even see people caught outside the country without proper documentation."

There will be a transition period in which federal customs agents will be more flexible with travelers, said Staeben, who did not disclose the length of that period. After that, citizens can apply for a passport at the American consulate in a foreign country, he said.

The current wait time for processing a passport is from six to eight weeks, Staeben said. The department has kept issuing passports at that pace despite the increased demand because it has hired almost 300 staff members in the last year and a half to handle the workload, he said.

For travelers with immediate plans, the wait can be reduced by making an appointment at the main Chicago passport office in the Kluczynski Federal Building and paying an additional fee of $60. Passport fees are $97 for adults, and $82 for children under 16.

The passport office at Chicago's City Hall has gotten almost 300 applications in the last week, three times the average, said Gregg Cunningham, a spokesman for the city clerk's office.

The office is adjusting to increased demand by opening a new passport location at 5430 W. Gale St. on the Northwest Side, in addition to its present satellite office at 5301 S. Cicero Ave. on the Southwest Side.

"We've had more customers, but we've been able to respond and serve them without delays or lines," Cunningham said.

At the Daley Center Wednesday, Nicole Karns, 18, applied for a passport for a trip to Haiti with her college chapter of Engineers Without Borders.

"You didn't need it to travel in the region before," said Karns, a college student. "It's not a huge hassle. It's just another thing to do before I leave."

The application for a passport must be submitted in person, but the form can be downloaded online. Applicants must provide proof of American citizenship, proof of identity such as a driver's license, and two identical photos.

The State Department's Web site (http://travel.state.gov/passport) has a listing of local passport offices and additional information.

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efitzsimmons@tribune.com