Retail associates and passport acceptance clerks now have news from the State Department and Homeland Security to share with some travelers concerned that their passports won’t make it to them in time for summer vacations. U.S. citizens traveling to Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda who have applied for passports — but not yet received them — can temporarily enter and depart from the United States by air with a government-issued photo identification and Department of State official proof of application for a passport through Sept. 30, 2007.
The federal government is making this accommodation for air travel due to longer than expected processing times for passport applications in the face of record-breaking demand. Travelers who have not applied for a passport should not expect to be accommodated.
