If there is some exotic locale in your travel plans for the immediate future, you'll need to pack more than your toothbrush, suntan lotion and a favorite novel in your carry-on bag. You'll need a United States passport, the all-critical key to successful travel beyond U.S. borders. New government travel rules that went into effect in 2007 require that all U.S. citizens have a valid passport when traveling by air to and from Bermuda, the Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. This legislative change resulted in unprecedented demand for passports over the summer. In June of 2007, the U.S. State Department reported that there were nearly three million applications pending for passports, pushing the turnaround time from the standard four to six weeks to twelve weeks or longer.
LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Don't let your travel plans get sidelined before they ever get off the ground. To ensure your trip is smooth and delay-free, keep these five passport guidelines in mind:
1. Be mindful of the expiration date
Are the delays still that bad? I remember renewing my passport when these rule changes went into effect initially and even then it took only 4 weeks.
Of course I was one of those jerks who just renewed his passport for the heck of it... so the next time I travel I'd have it in hand before I even bought the tickets. :)
A friend’s youngest daughter is getting married in August. She and her fiance planned on going to Jamaica. Unfortunately, the fiance got $4100 behind on his child support payments due to unemployment (he now has a job), and he was denied a passport because he was in arrears on his support.
Why is a religious magazine advocating getting passports? People should be going to church. Home, Work, Church. That it it. Stay within a 10 mile radius.
Foriegn shores are where the immoralists are...
