If you’re travelling by air to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, or the Caribbean, the new passport accommodations announced by the State Department this month may affect you.
On January 23, 2007, regulations requiring passports for air travel to the aforementioned countries went into effect. But due to the huge backlog of pending applications, on June 8th the State Department announced that U.S. citizens can re-enter the country with a government issued photo ID and official proof of your passport application through September 30, 2007. Last week Congress voted to extend that deadline until June 2009.
Please keep in mind, however, that specific entry requirements for Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean are still in effect. But it may be a bit of good news if you’re travelling to those countries -perhaps you won’t need to rush your passport application after all. For more information, please visit the State Department site.
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To give you an idea of how many applications the State Department is processing, check out these stats:
2006 passport applications: 12.1 million
2007 expected applications: 18 million
December applications: 1 million
January applications: 1.8 million
February applications: 1.7 million
(via associated press)
The refund is if you waited more than 14 days for what should be the normal expedited passport wait time.
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Mrs. Bee, New York
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Also if you applied for an expedited passport because of the insane delays before the relaxed rules took effect you can apply for a refund of the expedite fee. You need to submit a written application though.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_3259.html