The U.S. government has adopted new rules that will require anyone entering the country to have a passport or some other secured documentation – regardless whether they are U.S. citizens who simply want to eat dinner across the border or maquila managers who make a daily commute.

    The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will require all travelers to and from the Americas, the Caribbean, and Bermuda to have a passport or other secure, accepted form of documentation to enter or re-enter the United States.

    The Travel Initiative will affect all United States citizens traveling within the Western Hemisphere who do not currently possess valid passports. It will also affect certain foreign nationals who currently are not required to present a passport to travel to the United States namely most Canadian citizens, citizens of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda, and Mexican citizens.

    The initiative will be rolled out in phases. The proposed phased-in timeline is as follows:

    •Dec. 31, 2005 - Apply the requirement to all travel (air/sea) to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America.

    •Dec. 31, 2006 - Apply the requirement to all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.

    •Dec. 31, 2007 - Apply the requirement to all air, sea and land border crossings.

    According to CBP, the passport is the document of choice because it is the internationally recognized standard travel document. Other documentation that CBP anticipates will be acceptable under this initiative are the Customs and Border Protection SENTRI, NEXUS and FAST program cards. CBP also anticipates the Border Crossing Card, (BCC – also known as laser visa) will be acceptable as a substitute for a passport and a visa for citizens of Mexico traveling to the United States from contiguous territory.

    The U.S. government is urging citizens who frequent Mexico for business or pleasure to register in some sort of frequent traveler program, such as SENTRI, NEXUS or FAST.  Truck drivers registered through the FAST programs at the Canadian and Mexican border should be able to use those documents as well.

    Passports for adults are valid for 10 years. Passports for children are valid for five years. SENTRI registration is valid for two years. NEXUS is valid for five years and FAST is valid for five years.

    With these new requirements, the Department of Homeland Security believes that border wait times will be reduced because CBP Officers will be able to quickly validate the identity of persons and their citizenship with standardized documents.

SENTRI criteria

    The SENTRI border crossing system is designed for the use of low risk, pre-enrolled international travelers who frequently cross the border. When an approved international traveler approaches the border in the SENTRI lane, the system automatically identifies the vehicle and validates the identity of the occupants of the vehicle. Simultaneously, automatic digital license plate readers and computers perform queries of the vehicles and their occupants against law enforcement databases that are continuously updated. A combination of electric gates, tire shredders, traffic control lights, fixed iron bollards, and pop-up pneumatic bollards ensure physical control of the border crosser and their vehicles. Using computer generated random compliance checks, and the inspector’s own initiative, the federal inspection agencies have detected only minor violations of customs and immigration laws.

FAST enrollment

    Mexican manufacturers who are C-TPAT certified will be allowed to participate in the FAST program along the U.S./Mexico Border. The processing fee for a five-year membership is $50. The average processing time is eight weeks. Mexican related party manufacturers that are whole or majority owned subsidiaries of current C-TPAT importers that are controlled by the C-TPAT importer and are included in the importer’s C-TPAT security profile will be eligible for FAST processing upon completion of the C-TPAT Importer Related Party Manufacturer Information by the C-TPAT importer. Mexican related party manufacturers who are not included in the C-TPAT importer’s security profile must go through the entire application process for C-TPAT certification.

    Importers will complete separate applications to the Customs administrations on the Northern Border and a single application to CBP on the Southern Border. Importers authorized to use the FAST program for clearance into the United States will have a demonstrated history of complying with all relevant legislative and regulatory requirements, and will have made a commitment to security enhancing business practices as required by C-TPAT.

    Carriers will complete the FAST U.S./Canada Border Highway Carrier Application Process or FAST U.S./Mexico Border Highway Carrier Application Process requirements that include corporate information, a security profile, and a written U.S./Canada Border Highway Carrier Agreement/ U.S./Mexico Border Highway Carrier Agreement. In order to qualify for FAST Highway Carrier membership into the United States and Canada, two separate applications must be submitted to each country’s respective FAST Processing Centers. Each country will perform an independent risk assessment and each country will issue independent approvals for participation. For the Southern Border an independent risk assessment will be performed by CBP and once the assessment is complete, an approval for FAST participation will be authorized. For the United States, a FAST approved carrier will have met all aspects of C-TPAT through the FAST registration process.

    Commercial drivers will complete a U.S./Canada FAST Commercial Driver Application for the U.S. and Canada or FAST U.S./Mexico Border Commercial Driver Application for the U.S & Mexico. The application will be risk assessed by the customs and immigration services of both countries (Northern Border) or by CBP (Southern Border). Applicants identified as low-risk will report to an enrollment center where they will be interviewed, have their original identification and citizenship documents reviewed, fingerprinted and have a digital photo taken. Low-risk applicants will then be issued a FAST – Commercial Driver Identification Card.