Visas and Travel Documents
New Requirements for Travelers Between the United States and the Western Hemisphere: Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHI)
Travelers to and from Canada will be required to have a U.S. passport or other secure, accepted document to enter or re-enter the United States. This is a change from prior travel requirements and will affect all U.S. citizens entering the United States from countries within the Western Hemisphere. The goal is to strengthen border security and facilitate entry into the United States for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors. The U.S. passport is the document of choice because of the incorporated advanced security features.
For land border crossings to Canada, other documents that we anticipate will be acceptable under WHI are NEXUS and FAST program cards. No other document is currently available that will be an acceptable substitute for a U.S. passport, NEXUS or FAST card. However, we are using new technologies to create other acceptable travel documents. We will make public additional travel document options as they become available.
The travel initiative requirements will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines. The proposed implementation timeline is as follows:
December 31, 2005 – Passport or other accepted document required for all travel (air/sea) to or from the Caribbean, Bermuda, Central and South America.
December 31, 2006 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air and sea travel to or from Mexico and Canada.
December 31, 2007 – Passport or other accepted document required for all air, sea and land border crossings.
