Thread: PASS card now ready

PASS card now ready
By NICK GEORGIOU, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
07/24/2008

The People Access Security Service, or PASS, cards are now in full production and being distributed after a five-month delay, Patricia Barrera, Webb County tax assessor, said Wednesday."(The State Department) had to create the program and process, and what happened was it had to switch vendors and start from scratch," said Barrera, who applied Feb. 1 for the document, which is a more affordable and cost-efficient version of the passport specifically targeted toward frequent border crossers.

It has all the same rights and privileges of a passport, but it can't be used to travel by air.

The State Department confirmed this week that the PASS cards were in full production but did not say what the cause of delay was.

According to a previous Laredo Morning Times article, Steve Royster, spokesman for the State Department's Bureau of Consular Affairs, said the agency has always stated that the cards would be issued in the spring, but that it just happened to fall under the latter part of the timeline.

Royster could also not confirm whether the change in the technology company that produced the cards was the reason for the delay. He did say, however, that the contract for the technology services was at first awarded sometime this winter to General Dynamics Information Technology but that it was "mutually terminated for the convenience of both parties."

The State Department found another vendor in March, awarding L-1 Identity Solutions a $107 million, five-year contract to produce the PASS cards.

According to a State Department news release issued Tuesday, more than 350,000 U.S. residents have applied for the wallet-sized card since Feb. 1, which was the first date the agency began accepting applications. A State Department official said localized figures were not available at this time.

About 7,600 cards have been mailed to advance customers, and all preorders are expected to be filled by Sept. 30, according to the State Department.

"After that initial distribution, we expect the processing time for (PASS) cards to be the same as for passport books - less than four weeks," the news release stated. "Customers will be able to track the progress of their passport card application online beginning in mid-August."

Barrera said there was a rush to get the PASS cards during February, March and April, where the office was receiving an average of about 800 applications per month, but it has slowed down significantly in May and June. During those two months, the office received about 400 applications.

One of the factors to which she attributed the drop in the number of applications was the rising standard-of-living cost, pointing specifically to the increasing price of gasoline.

For those interested in obtaining a PASS card, it costs $45 for someone 16 or older and $35 for someone under 16. A passport costs $100.

The idea for the cards came from the Western Hemispheric Travel Initiative, which, according to the State Department Web site, aims to strengthen border security "while facilitating entry for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors by providing standardized documentation that enables the Department of Homeland Security to quickly and reliably identify a traveler."

On Jan. 31, the second phase of the WHTI went into effect, requiring U.S. citizens entering the United States by land or sea to present either a passport, NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST card, or a military ID and military travel orders. Another option is presenting a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license, along with a birth certificate or any other proof of citizenship.

The first phase of the WHTI went into effect January 2007, requiring all travelers to show a passport when re-entering the United States from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

According to the State Department, the land-and-sea phase of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative will go into effect June 1, 2009. From then on, U.S. citizens will have to show a passport, a PASS card or a WHTI-compliant document, such as a trusted traveler card or a U.S. military ID with military travel orders.

For information on how to apply for a PASS card, visit travel.state.gov.

(Nick Georgiou can be reached at 728-2582 or nickg@lmtonline.com)


©Laredo Morning Times 2008


http://tinyurl.com/5o7kyh

So, how is this to work? People coming into our country have to do what, now? ID, what kind, who authorizes their visit here, and who verifies?

Is it counterfeit proof?