travelnews: Passport Card

Travelers crossing U.S. land and sea borders can now replace their passport book with a new passport card. Federal passport officials started issuing the wallet-size cards on July 14. The passport card facilitates entry and expedites document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used to travel by air. Otherwise, it carries the rights and privileges of the U.S. passport book and is adjudicated to the exact same standards.

The Department of State is issuing this passport card in response to the needs of border resident communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book. The card has the same period of validity as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger. Adults who already have a fully valid passport book may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.

To facilitate the frequent travel of U.S. citizens living in border communities and to meet DHS's operational needs at land borders, the passport card contains a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. This chip points to a stored record in secure government databases. There is no personal information written to the RFID chip itself.

Customers who submitted an application for the U.S. Passport Card prior to production will receive their Passport Card between now and early September.

Note: A previous passport book holder, eligible to use Form DS-82, may apply for a passport card as a Renewal. First time applicants for a U.S. Passport, and those not eligible to use the DS-82, should apply for a passport card using Form DS-11.

Carolyn Wooley

University of Oregon

Travel Coordinator

cwooley@uoregon.edu

541-346-3158 ph

541-346-2393 fax