Travelers flying to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean have been given a short reprieve on an early January deadline requiring them to have passports.
The security measure was supposed to go into effect Jan. 8, but U.S. officials missed a deadline for publishing final details of the plan 60 days before it goes into effect. By the time the feds caught up on the assignment, the passport deadline for air travelers was moved to Jan. 23.
The Department of Homeland Security estimates that 69 percent of U.S. travelers to Canada, 58 percent of U.S. travelers to Mexico and 75 percent of U.S. travelers to the Caribbean already hold passports.
Those crossing into Canada or Mexico by land or sea must have passports (or a soon-to-be-available national identity card) no later than June, 2009.
– ALISON DAROSA
