Passport changes results in confusion

By Leslie Berestein

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 1, 2008

SAN DIEGO – The line was a least a hundred deep yesterday at the post office on Midway Drive as customers waited to apply for passports, even though a requirement that U.S. citizens present them to re-enter the country at land borders has been pushed back to an undetermined date this year.

Some of those waiting in line said they mistakenly had thought they might have to pay more money after yesterday, which is not the case. Others who weren't quite sure about what the regulations are decided to play it safe and get a passport.

“I know it doesn't make any difference whether it's 2007 or 2008, but I figured why not,” said Mike Sark, 51, of Tierrasanta, a frequent traveler to Mexico whose passport expired six months ago.

Passport acceptance clerk Angelo Finocchiaro said he has been seeing longer lines – and hearing misinformation from those standing in them – for about a week.

“They think there is an increase in fees,” Finocchiaro said. “There will be, but it has not been finalized yet. They don't understand the new conditions for travel by land or sea.”

Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, anyone traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean region has been required to present a passport or other valid travel document to enter or re-enter the United States since January 2007.

When the new travel regulations were proposed, travelers returning by land from Canada or Mexico would have needed to present a passport by yesterday's date. However, in part because of backlogs in processing passport applications, the federal government has postponed this requirement until summer, with the date to be determined.