US Congress considers delaying passport requirement

Tourists planning trips to the United States by car, via a land border crossing from

Canada, as well as Americans returning from holidays, may be temporarily spared from having to produce a passport. Although passports are now required when travelling to the US from Canada by airplane—thanks to increased security that came into effect last January—the American Congress is now considering adopting a motion that would delay the introduction of the passport requirement for land crossings until June 1, 2009. If the change is not accepted, travelers will be required to show their valid passport for inspection as of June 2008. President George Bush’s administration, however, has already indicated that it will push for the passport requirement to go into effect on schedule.

The reason that Congress is considering extending passport-free trans-border travel is because last year’s introduction of new requirements for air travel caused a huge backlog of passport requests, as Americans scrambled to renew or obtain a travel document, ahead of a family vacation, or a business trip. In some cases, it took up to three months to obtain a passport, which forced many families to cancel their travel plans. Over 18 million passports were issued by US officials in 2007, a figure that broke all previous records.

US citizens now returning from holidays in Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air are already required to produce a passport upon re-entry to the

US. Those travelling to and from the

US by car may still simply show a valid driver’s license, until the implementation of the next set of passport requirements.