More U.S. kids must soon pack a passport

By Stewart M. Powell
Hearst Newspapers
Published September 18, 2006


WASHINGTON -- New anti-terrorism rules will soon require Americans younger than 16 to have $82 U.S. passports to return home by air or sea from visits to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean.

The children are among the estimated 22 million U.S. travelers to neighboring nations each year who will be required for the first time to present passports to U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents upon returning to the United States.



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The passport requirement--which takes effect Jan. 8 for travelers returning from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air or sea--will affect an estimated 557,000 children under the age of 16, according to the customs agency.

All U.S. citizens returning from Canada and Mexico by road will be required to present passports beginning Jan. 1, 2008.

Passports for adults cost $97 and are good for 10 years. Passports for children younger than 16 cost $82 and are good for five years.

Parents face a complicated process obtaining passports for their children due to precautions taken to prevent separated or divorced parents from obtaining a passport to sneak their child out of the U.S. without the consent of the other parent.

The new passport requirement has encountered resistance from the international travel industry, including the cruise ship industry.

Jarrod Agen, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the Bush administration responded to concerns raised by the winter cruise ship industry by delaying by one week past New Year's Day the implementation of the passport requirement at seaports.

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The procedure

To obtain passports for their children, parents must:

- Appear together with their partner and any child younger than 14 to submit the application in person.

- Present proof of citizenship, identity and parental relationship.

- Make a sworn statement before a designated federal employee.

- If one parent has legal custody after a divorce or during a legal separation, that parent must present a notarized statement from the child's other parent approving the passport application.

--Hearst Newspapers



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