If you're planning on doing any travel this year, you may want to keep up with the latest passport rules? What? No passport? Hard to believe, but only 27% of Americans have a passport. With the rules changing, it's now a better time than ever to get one.
Under the government's new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, everyone (even kids) will be required to show their passport when traveling between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda. So if you're going on a cruise, while you might not have needed a passport in the past, chances are, you need one now.
If you travel to a US territory, i.e., Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, just your driver's license and birth certificate will do.
The new deadlines are almost upon us.
If you're traveling by air, you will need your passport beginning on January 23, 2007.
If you are traveling by land or sea, new passport rules will go into effect as early as January 2008.
APPLYING FOR YOUR FIRST PASSPORT
OK, yes, it's a hassle, but once it's done, you're good for quite a few years. You need to go (yes, in person, and no, no one else can do it for you) to a passport agency. Bring with you:
* Two photographs of yourself;
* Proof of US citizenship (i.e., your birth certificate);
* A valid form of photo identification such as a driver's license;
* A passport application form.
* Money for the fee
Passport agencies are usually a post office, government office or public library. You may not apply for your first passport online. To find an agency near you, visit here.
Your first passport will get you through the next 10 years and will cost $97 if you're age 16 or older. Child passports last for five years and cost $82. If you are getting a passport for your child, BOTH PARENTS must be there when getting their passport.
When renewing your passport, it can all be done through the mail. Make sure to send it either certified mail or via a traceable carrier (i.e., Fedex).
