Latest passport requirement revision announced by U.S.

Just as surely as Congress spends more money than it has, Homeland Security has yet again revised the proposed new U.S. passport requirements for travel within the western hemisphere. Truly we've lost count of the number of changes to this scheme. The new proposed date is January 23, 2007, when passports will be newly required for all air travel between the US and previously exempt areas.

In describing the new rules let's be clear that for any travel between places where passports are already required, they will still be required... no changes there.

The new rules eliminate today's passport exemption for air travel between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. However, land and sea travel between the U.S. and those spots keeps its exemption until a to-be-determined date that will be no earlier than January 1, 2008.

A tightfisted U.S. cruise traveler, traveling in 2007 to the Caribbean roundtrip from Miami, for example, could theoretically opt not to get a passport since the exemption remains for sea travel. This would nonetheless be a poor decision. Why? What if some emergency back home requires you cut your cruise short to fly back from the Caribbean? Or you get ill and want to fly home early? Many what-ifs could cause you to unexpectedly fly home, in which case a passport will be required when you land. So get your passport now!

And, one final point. These rules and dates could still change again depending on the latest results generated at Homeland Security by shaking their Security Policy Magic 8-Ball. So keep an eye on http://travel.state.gov/ for the latest updates.