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Time's Up For Passport-Free Travel

Earlier this summer, the feds fell way behind on all the applications that rolled in after new rules requiring passports in the western hemisphere kicked in. US citizens trying to get new passports before trips to, say, Cabo, were inundating offices and causing a monumental backlog thanks to government unpreparedness. (Things got so bad, congressman Tom Lantos put his foot in his mouth comparing the delays to Hurricane Katrina.)

So while the Department of Homeland Security worked through the mess, passport procrastinators had the freedom to take trips to Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean without passports. (Proof of an application was all that you needed.)

Starting today, though, the special rules expire, and you'll need the real deal in order to leave or re-enter the United States. Fortunately, we've already told you how to get a passport--rules that are good, backlog or not.

Related Stories:
· How To Score a US Passport [Jaunted]
· Passport Issuing Back on Track [Jaunted]

[Photo: igb]