U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have mandated all travellers entering or re-entering the U.S. from the Caribbean…
U.S. State Department and the Department of Homeland Security have mandated all travellers entering or re-entering the U.S. from the Caribbean to carry passports starting Dec. 31, 2005.
The U.S. State Department and the Department Homeland Security recently announced the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, which will require all U.S. citizens and foreign nationals, to carry a passport or other accepted secure documents to enter or re-enter the U.S. from both vacations or business travel anywhere in the Caribbean, Bermuda and Central and South America, effective Dec. 31, 2005. This requirement is applied to all travel by both air and sea.
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO), representing more than 30 governments of the Caribbean region, will aggressively disseminate all pertinent information to both the region`s travel partners including travel agents, airlines and tour operators, and the travelling public in order to prevent a disruption of travel plans for 2006 and beyond.
CTO will strongly encourage all travellers to apply for their passports early in anticipation of their vacation or business travel to the Caribbean should they be travelling on or after Dec. 31, 2005. Due to an overwhelming expected rush of passport applications, CTO is advising all travellers without passports to allow a minimum of eight weeks to process a new U.S. passport application. Foreign nationals should contact their own respective governments to obtain passports.
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