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On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security announced new COVID-19 vaccine mandates for non-U.S. travelers entering the country via land ports and ferry terminals. The new requirements take effect on Saturday, and they include essential and non-essential travelers.According to the DHS press release:“Starting on January 22, 2022, the Department of Homeland Security will require that non-U.S. individuals entering the United States via land ports of entry or ferry terminals along our Northern and Southern borders be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and be prepared to show related proof of vaccination,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “These updated travel requirements reflect the...

WASHINGTON - Congress is seeking to delay a new security rule requiring passports at all U.S. border crossings next year in hopes of avoiding a repeat of last summer's vacation-killing backlog of passport applications. The Bush administration said Monday it opposed the measure and still plans to go forward with implementing the planned passport rule next summer. Lawmakers said Monday that under a major end-of-the-year spending bill to be voted on this week, the border passport rule would be moved back even further, to no earlier than June 1, 2009. The first phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, or...

The United States expressed strong support Monday for using high-technology driver's licences as alternatives to passports when crossing the Canada-U.S. border, saying Vermont is developing them. Canada had been lobbying American officials to endorse licences, saying the plan to require passports is already seriously denting tourism and could damage trade. The move came as President George W. Bush sat down with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Montebello, Que., before a tri-lateral summit with Mexico. More states are expected to announce formal plans in the coming days to work on licences that contain proof of citizenship as well as identity. Homeland...

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is poised to suspend a major post-9/11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules. A proposal, expected to be announced Friday, will temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. citizens have passports to fly to and from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda, provided the traveler can prove he or she has already applied for a passport, officials said Thursday. The temporary lifting of the passport rule is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed...

If you're planning to fly to Mexico or Canada after Jan. 22, now would be a good time to submit passport applications to your local post office. On Jan. 23, new security requirements will mean Americans no longer will be able to re-enter the country with only a driver's license and birth certificate. The special relationship between the United States and its two North American neighbors is being phased out under the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, first for U.S. citizens returning to their home country by air and then for all borders in a year or...