DHS and State Certify WHTI Compliance for Land and Sea

The Departments of Homeland Security and State have certified to Congress that the enhanced driver’s license, passport card, and Trusted Traveler Card programs are adequate alternatives to passports so as to permit DHS to impose the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) documentary requirements at land and sea borders beginning June 1, 2009. Upon implementation, US and Canadian citizens aged 16 years and older must present either a passport or one of the approved alternative documents in order to cross into the U.S. The alternatives available to date include enhanced drivers licenses issued in New York, Washington, Vermont, and British Columbia, (with Michigan and other Canadian provinces issuing them in the coming months), NEXUS, SENTRI, and FAST border crossing cards, and the Passport Card the State Department issues for Canada-US travel. Children under 16 years of age must present a copy of their birth certificate or other proof of citizenship.

Unlike the other Bush-era regulations put on hold by the Obama Administration, the WHTI compliance deadline was codified by Congress, and has already been pushed back. The requirement is likely to take effect June 1, unless Congress again legislates a delay. Given the continuing implementation expense, the chilling effect on Canada-US travel, and the soft economy, further delay isn’t out of the question, but don’t count on it.

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