State Dept Extends Comment Period on Proposal for "Credit-Card Sized" PASS Card for Certain Land and Sea Travel by U.S. Citizens
The State Department has issued a notice extending the comment period until January 7, 2007 (from December 18, 2006) and provides an additional venue through which to make comments (via email to PassportCardComments@state.gov) on its October 2006 proposed rule that would set forth the format and requirements for obtaining PASS Cards (also referred to as passport cards). The State Department has previously stated that PASS Cards would serve as a lower cost means of establishing identity and nationality for U.S. citizens in the following limited situations: (1) when crossing U.S. land borders, and (2) when traveling by sea between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, or Bermuda.
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Highlights of PASS Card Proposed Rule
The State Department's October 2006 proposed rule is intended to implement part of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Highlights of the proposed rule include (partial list): (a) the PASS card would show the bearer's origin, identity, and nationality and would be subject to existing passport statutes; (b) radio frequency (RF) technology would be utilized in the PASS Cards to store and transmit only a unique reference number that would serve as a link to a database managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); (c) U.S. citizens would be able to hold both a PASS Card and a traditional book-style passport concurrently; and (d) the PASS Card would carry a machine-readable zone and notation that the card is valid only for international land and sea travel between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda, and would not be a globally interoperable document.
(See ITT's Online Archives or 11/02/06 news, 06110210, for BP summary of the State Department's proposed rule.)
-written comments are now due by January 7, 2007
State Department Contact - Consuelo Pachon (202) 663-2431
State Department notice on extension of comment period (Public Notice 5643, FR Pub 12/13/06) available at http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20061800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/E6-21219.pdf.