Canadians can travel to the U.S. by land and sea without passport until June 2009

The U.S. government has announced postponement of the implementation of final phase of new travel rule until June 1, 2009, which will affect travel to the United States by land and sea.

The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) is a new American law, which requires all travelers, including Canadians and Americans who are entering the U.S., to have a valid passport or other secure identity document when traveling to the United States from within the western hemisphere.

After the release of final guidelines for travel to the United States on November 24, 2006, it has been decided to implement WHTI in two phases: travel by air, and travel by land and sea. The first phase, which affect travel to the United States by air only has been implemented from January 23, 2007, while the second or final phase, set to be implemented from June 1, 2008, has now been postponed till June 1, 2009.

This delay in WHTI implementation only applies to Canadians traveling by land and sea. Canadians can now continue to use documents such as a birth certificate and a government-issued photo identification (e.g. driver’s licence) to cross the Canada-U.S. border by land and sea for at least another one and a half year. Canadians flying to or through the U.S. must present a valid Canadian passport or a valid NEXUS Air Membership when used at a NEXUS kiosk at participating airports.

This permission to delay the implementation of the WHTI for travel by land and sea until June 1, 2009 was actually granted through an amendment in 2007 Homeland Security Appropriations Act, which was passed by the U.S. Congress on September 29, 2006 and signed by the President Bush on October 4, 2006. This means that the WHTI could be fully implemented before June 1, 2009, or until three months after the Secretaries of State and Homeland Security have jointly certified that specific security criteria for travel documents have been established.

However, the government of Canada is working closely with its U.S. counterparts to investigate other acceptable alternate documents, such as enhanced driver's licences, for Canadians across the land border instead of a passport. As a result of Canadian government’s efforts, the Bush administration has already agreed to exempt Canadian youths aged 18 and under from new rules to carry a passport when entering the United States at land and sea borders. The federal government of Canada has also taken limited flexibility by Americans, which allows travelers without passports to enter the United States in emergency situations as long as they can confirm each traveler’s identity “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Businesses on both sides of the border have expressed concerns about the possible impacts on tourism. Canadians make over 3 million trips (including same-day crossings) per month to the United States, while the figure is just over 2 million for Americans headed to Canada.

Before January 23, 2007, Canadians were not requiring a passport or visa to visit the United States from Canada by all modes of travel, including air, and they could enter by providing proof of citizenship and identity. WHTI ended 140-years of passport-free travel across the borders.