Documents Required for Travelers Arriving in the United States at Air and Sea Ports-of-Entry From Within the Western Hemisphere

Résumé

The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 provides that by January 1, 2008, United States citizens and nonimmigrant aliens may enter the United States only with passports or such alternative documents as the Secretary of Homeland Security may designate as satisfactorily establishing identity and citizenship. This notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) is the first phase of a joint Department of Homeland Security and Department of State plan to implement these new requirements. This NPRM proposes that, beginning January 8, 2007, United States citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico entering the United States at air ports-of- entry and most sea ports-of-entry, with certain limited exceptions, will generally be required to present a valid passport. This NPRM does not propose to change the requirements for United States citizens and nonimmigrant aliens from Canada, Bermuda, and Mexico entering the United States at land border ports-of-entry and certain types of arrivals by sea (ferries and pleasure vessels) which will be addressed in a separate, future rulemaking.