U.S. may relax passport rules because of backlog

[Marilyn. 340]

U.S. may relax passport rules because of backlog

Staff and Wire Reports

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration may suspend a major post-9-11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from thousands of Americans whose summer vacations are threatened or delayed by new passport rules.

The backlog has caused up to a three-month delay in issuing passports.

A proposal under consideration would temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided that the traveler can prove that he or she has applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The proposed six-month suspension would help clear a huge backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said.

But the plan has run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears that the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirable people to enter the country.

Texans have been appealing to their congressional representatives for assistance getting their passports but aren't getting much help. When congressional staff members try to get the National Passport Information Center to expedite a request, they're told to call back three days before the applicant needs to leave.

That's the complaint by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, who, with 16 other members of the Texas delegation, asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to fix the backlog. (Read more about their efforts at conaway.house.gov.)

Three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still the subject of internal debate, said an announcement of a suspension could come as early as today. "This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., whose district lies near the Canadian border, said White House officials have been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a compromise amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said she had been calling on State and Homeland Security to implement a suspension for two weeks.

"I said: 'You need to take action. This is completely screwed up,'" she said. "To say people must have a passport to travel and not give people a passport is right up there in the stupid column."

Wilson said her office took more than 500 calls in May from constituents struggling to get passports.

The agency said it has added 200 people, recalled retirees with past passport experience and opened a new processing center in Arkansas.

All of its 18 passport agencies are working overtime, and it even has had senior officials handle telephone calls.

A State Department spokesman said that the "vast majority" are receiving their passports in time through the normal process, adding hat the extreme cases of delays "are not representative."

At a glance

Effective Jan. 23, a passport is required for air travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

Passport applications jumped 50 percent to 1.5 million a month, leading to a major backlog.

The government recommends travelers apply for (or renew) passports at least 12 weeks before a trip.

Source: U.S. State Department

http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/129661.html

WASHINGTON (CP) - The United States is poised to suspend a major post-Sept. 11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules.

A proposal set to be announced as early as Friday will temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided the traveller can prove he or she has already applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The suspension in the rules is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said. Some officials said the change would last several months; others said as long as six months.

The proposal applies only to Americans, a U.S. official said. Canadian air travellers entering the United States will still need passports.

But it would be a balm to the Canadian tourism industry and others who rely on a steady stream of American visitors and are already losing money due to confusion about the new security rules.

The plan had run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirables to enter the country, the officials said.

Instead of a passport, travellers will now be able to present a State Department receipt showing their passport application is being processed, and a government-issued ID such as a driver's licence.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still the subject of internal debate and details are not finalized. But three of the officials said an announcement of the move could come as early as Friday.

"This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," Homeland spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Under the plan, those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny when they travel, which could include extra questioning or bag checks, according to one official familiar with the discussions.

The suspension will give the State Department time to deal with a surge in applications that has overwhelmed its processing centres since the new rules took effect earlier this year.

The backlog has caused up to three-month delays in issuing passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of untold thousands of Americans.

Wait times for Canadian passports are nearly as long as those in the United States.

Frustrated U.S. legislators, besieged with constituent complaints, have demanded relief.

Representative Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) whose district lies near the Canadian border, said White House officials have been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a compromise amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.

The State Department has hired hundreds of new passport adjudicators, put employees to work around-the-clock and opened a new processing facility in Arkansas but has still been unable to meet the demand.

Initial hopes that the delays could be overcome were dashed earlier this month when more than a million requests for new passports were dumped at once on the facilities by banks contracted to clear application fee checks, a senior State Department official said.

The passport application surge is the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that since January has required U.S. citizens to use passports when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air.

Caribbean destinations are not included in the proposed suspension, the officials said.

The travel initiative, which next year will require either passports or yet-to-be developed wallet-sized passcards to be presented at land border crossings, is part of a broader package of immigration rules enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It has caused deep annoyance, particularly from those who live in border states and make routine, legal crossings into Canada and Mexico for business and pleasure.

Between March and May of this year, the department issued more than 4.5 million passports, a 60 per cent increase over the same period in 2006, but millions more applications are waiting to be processed, according to consular affairs officials.

The demand is such that the State Department has warned applicants to allow as long as 12 weeks for their passports to be issued and up to three weeks for expedited processing at an extra fee. Previously, the maximum wait was six weeks and two weeks, respectively.

http://www.cjad.com/node/539428

[simple_male 1]

U.S. may relax passport rules because of backlog

Staff and Wire Reports

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration may suspend a major post-9-11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from thousands of Americans whose summer vacations are threatened or delayed by new passport rules.

The backlog has caused up to a three-month delay in issuing passports.

A proposal under consideration would temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided that the traveler can prove that he or she has applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The proposed six-month suspension would help clear a huge backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said.

But the plan has run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears that the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirable people to enter the country.

Texans have been appealing to their congressional representatives for assistance getting their passports but aren't getting much help. When congressional staff members try to get the National Passport Information Center to expedite a request, they're told to call back three days before the applicant needs to leave.

That's the complaint by Rep. Mike Conaway, R-Midland, who, with 16 other members of the Texas delegation, asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to fix the backlog. (Read more about their efforts at conaway.house.gov.)

Three officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still the subject of internal debate, said an announcement of a suspension could come as early as today. "This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," DHS spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Rep. Thomas Reynolds, R-N.Y., whose district lies near the Canadian border, said White House officials have been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a compromise amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.

Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., said she had been calling on State and Homeland Security to implement a suspension for two weeks.

"I said: 'You need to take action. This is completely screwed up,'" she said. "To say people must have a passport to travel and not give people a passport is right up there in the stupid column."

Wilson said her office took more than 500 calls in May from constituents struggling to get passports.

The agency said it has added 200 people, recalled retirees with past passport experience and opened a new processing center in Arkansas.

All of its 18 passport agencies are working overtime, and it even has had senior officials handle telephone calls.

A State Department spokesman said that the "vast majority" are receiving their passports in time through the normal process, adding hat the extreme cases of delays "are not representative."

At a glance

Effective Jan. 23, a passport is required for air travel to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda.

Passport applications jumped 50 percent to 1.5 million a month, leading to a major backlog.

The government recommends travelers apply for (or renew) passports at least 12 weeks before a trip.

Source: U.S. State Department

http://www.star-telegram.com/business/story/129661.html

WASHINGTON (CP) - The United States is poised to suspend a major post-Sept. 11 security initiative to cope with increasingly angry complaints from Americans whose summer vacations are threatened by new passport rules.

A proposal set to be announced as early as Friday will temporarily waive a requirement that U.S. passports be used for air travel to and from Canada and Mexico, provided the traveller can prove he or she has already applied for a passport, officials said Thursday.

The suspension in the rules is aimed at clearing a massive backlog of passport applications at the State Department that has slowed processing to a crawl, they said. Some officials said the change would last several months; others said as long as six months.

The proposal applies only to Americans, a U.S. official said. Canadian air travellers entering the United States will still need passports.

But it would be a balm to the Canadian tourism industry and others who rely on a steady stream of American visitors and are already losing money due to confusion about the new security rules.

The plan had run into opposition from the Homeland Security Department, which controls U.S. border points and fears the move could make it easier for terrorists or other undesirables to enter the country, the officials said.

Instead of a passport, travellers will now be able to present a State Department receipt showing their passport application is being processed, and a government-issued ID such as a driver's licence.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is still the subject of internal debate and details are not finalized. But three of the officials said an announcement of the move could come as early as Friday.

"This is pre-decisional, and I have no comment," Homeland spokesman Russ Knocke said.

Under the plan, those without passports would receive additional security scrutiny when they travel, which could include extra questioning or bag checks, according to one official familiar with the discussions.

The suspension will give the State Department time to deal with a surge in applications that has overwhelmed its processing centres since the new rules took effect earlier this year.

The backlog has caused up to three-month delays in issuing passports and ruined or delayed the travel plans of untold thousands of Americans.

Wait times for Canadian passports are nearly as long as those in the United States.

Frustrated U.S. legislators, besieged with constituent complaints, have demanded relief.

Representative Thomas Reynolds (R-N.Y.) whose district lies near the Canadian border, said White House officials have been on Capitol Hill trying to work out a compromise amid what he called a "turf war" between State and Homeland Security.

The State Department has hired hundreds of new passport adjudicators, put employees to work around-the-clock and opened a new processing facility in Arkansas but has still been unable to meet the demand.

Initial hopes that the delays could be overcome were dashed earlier this month when more than a million requests for new passports were dumped at once on the facilities by banks contracted to clear application fee checks, a senior State Department official said.

The passport application surge is the result of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that since January has required U.S. citizens to use passports when entering the United States from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air.

Caribbean destinations are not included in the proposed suspension, the officials said.

The travel initiative, which next year will require either passports or yet-to-be developed wallet-sized passcards to be presented at land border crossings, is part of a broader package of immigration rules enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

It has caused deep annoyance, particularly from those who live in border states and make routine, legal crossings into Canada and Mexico for business and pleasure.

Between March and May of this year, the department issued more than 4.5 million passports, a 60 per cent increase over the same period in 2006, but millions more applications are waiting to be processed, according to consular affairs officials.

The demand is such that the State Department has warned applicants to allow as long as 12 weeks for their passports to be issued and up to three weeks for expedited processing at an extra fee. Previously, the maximum wait was six weeks and two weeks, respectively.

http://www.cjad.com/node/539428

Yes, it makes sense to relax the rules for huge backlog. NBC news reported it last night.

[KarenCee 3]

I hope they do...we haven't been able to get my daughter's passport nor mine changed into my married name just yet and darn it, we'd love to be able to fly home soon. Just don't have the money as of right now to do all of this.

Question though...if anyone might know the answer. How long would the special circumstance form one needs to fill out when applying for a passport for a minor child (the notarized form that the non custodial parent has to fill out) is good for? I had a hard enough time getting it out of him to begin with, I'd hate for the bloody thing to expire before I can use it. I can only imagine the hard time I'll have getting it done again from him. If it will make my life harder, he'll do whatever he can to make it so. *sigh*

Edited June 8, 2007 by KarenCee

[simple_male 1]

I hope they do...we haven't been able to get my daughter's passport nor mine changed into my married name just yet and darn it, we'd love to be able to fly home soon. Just don't have the money as of right now to do all of this.

Question though...if anyone might know the answer. How long would the special circumstance form one needs to fill out when applying for a passport for a minor child (the notarized form that the non custodial parent has to fill out) is good for? I had a hard enough time getting it out of him to begin with, I'd hate for the bloody thing to expire before I can use it. I can only imagine the hard time I'll have getting it done again from him. If it will make my life harder, he'll do whatever he can to make it so. *sigh*

I think, it is official now. Please read the link:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070608/ap_on_...RybrtnyYkes0NUE

[KarenCee 3]

Aye but its only good IF you have applied for a passport and IF you travel before September. Oh well.

[simple_male 1]

Aye but its only good IF you have applied for a passport and IF you travel before September. Oh well.

Yes, one has to show the proof that he/she has applied for the passport. It does not apply to people who would be driving from/to USA-Canada, US-Mexico, etc. The passport requirement will apply to the drivers from next year.

[almaty 19]

probably will help many out..the usa gov't was not ready for the massive requests..piss poor planning as usual

[Marilyn. 340]

taken from the article..

The State Department has hired hundreds of new passport adjudicators, put employees to work around-the-clock and opened a new processing facility in Arkansas but has still been unable to meet the demand.

Initial hopes that the delays could be overcome were dashed earlier this month when more than a million requests for new passports were dumped at once on the facilities by banks contracted to clear application fee checks, a senior State Department official said.

I think they got a handle on it but then were overloaded with requests for passports by the banks...