A Briggs Passport & Visa Expeditors

The new passport card has information encoded electronically in the card to speed processing of citizens coming back into the U.S. The card has been criticized by some for the fact that the data in the card could be hacked into because the data can be picked up from more than a few inches away. The critics say the data could compromise the holder’s personal information.

We have never agreed with this criticism because the only data on the card is a unique number of the holder that has nothing to do with their identity. Instead the number is only good for use on the database of the U.S. Customs officials. When put into Customs computer database, the number will identify the holder, so he or she can be correctly and immediately identified and allowed to enter the U.S.

So even if someone did successfully hack into the card and get the passport card number of the holder, it would only be helpful if they also had hacked into the Customs database, and that is as close to impossible as the government can guarantee. We respect the integrity of the databases of the U.S. government, so we do not think the passport card is a personal security risk.

Read an interesting editorial on this subject by the Buffalo News whose readers are heavily impacted by this card because they are only a few miles from the Canadian border.

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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order a Passport.

Beginning January 31st, 2008, U.S. citizens will be required to show their birth certificates or other documents that prove citizenship, along with their driver’s licenses, to cross the border back into this country if they don’t have passports.

The modifications are step one closer to the new rules to tighten border security and require a passport or passcard to cross land borders. The State Department and Homeland Security have not issued the rules for the issuance of passport cards. The passport card will be issued to reduce the cost and complexity for residents in border states who cross the border regularly.

The State Department plans to begin processing applications for the wallet cards by the spring. The delays on the passport card and the stricter requirements at land border crossings are likely to cause traffic jams at ports of entry along the U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada.

Many people who regularly cross the border by showing a driver’s license and saying “yes” when Customs and Border Patrol agents ask if they are U.S. citizens are not aware of new rules.

300 million people cross the land borders annually. Congress moved back the deadline requiring passports or passport cards at all land borders until June 2009. Officials in charge of issuing passport cards announced plans for the driver’s license-like card in early 2006, and said the card would be ready for distribution by the end of that year. Now, almost two years later, the State Department is still working on the final regulations for the card, which is expected to cost $20 plus a $25 processing fee — about half of the $97 cost of a regular passport, making the smaller card a cheaper and easier alternative for many border residents.

Stay tuned and we’ll keep you informed. Meanwhile, our advice is apply for your passport now. If you need a rush pasport, you can obtain a passport as quickly as 24 hours.

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Planning a trip? Is your passport up to date? Click here to order a Passport.