Acquiring A Passport To Cancun Is Probably A Good Idea
One of the beauties of traveling to Mexico and Canada has always been that there was never a need to have a passport to make the trip. Now imagine having planned and paid for a trip over a year ago and then realizing that a passport to Cancun may be needed because of the new laws that are in effect. It will depend on what type of a trip is being made, but chances are a passport will be needed.
The obvious answer is that since Cancun is in Mexico, and since Mexico is not in the U.S, then yes a passport would be necessary for a Cancun vacation. However, it was not until very recently that passports were necessary for travel to border countries, and even now they are not universally necessary. The type of travel dictates whether or not a passport is required.
In order to figure out if you will need a passport to Cancun, it is first important to understand the new passport laws. As of June 1st, 2009, passports are required for travel to Mexico, Canada and nearby Caribbean Islands. These laws apply to air, land and sea travel. Prior to these laws, passports were not required for land and sea travel to Mexico. International Mexican travel only required a valid driver’s license or other government issued identification.
Anyone that is now traveling out of the United States to areas such as Cancun will almost always have to have a passport now. The new laws require that all land, sea and air travel passengers have a valid US Passport to re-enter the United States when coming in from any destination. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.
The one loophole in the new passport laws are related to trips categorized as “closed loop” voyages. This is a cruise ship trip that starts in a US port and ends up in a US port. Because the traveler is not technically leaving the ship, meaning one-way travel, they can get away with only having a driver’s license on their trip. However, there are restrictions involved in the actual destinations of these cruises.
Approved countries that this rule applies to are such destinations as Bermuda, Canada and the Virgin Islands. To be safe, it is always recommended that you check with the State Department or your travel agent as they will both be up to date on the rules regarding the cruise ship itinerary destinations. A quick phone call can give some piece of mind.
All of these changes were made because of Homeland Security. It is no secret that border security was pretty lax, especially on the Canadian and Mexican borders. People were literally coming and going as they pleased. In order to secure the borders, these new passport laws were put in place to make it more difficult for people to get across the border into the United States.
Anyone traveling to Cancun from the United States will almost certainly need to fill out a American passport application. The only time a passport to Cancun is not necessary is when a person is traveling to Cancun in a closed loop cruise. Any other form of travel will require that a valid passport is in hand or that person will risk not being able to enter the foreign country.
Post a comment