Posted by: Editor on Jun 08, 2007 – 01:56 PM
newsandinfo  Record-breaking demand for U.S. passports has forced the government to suspend new rules for air travel to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

The State Department and Homeland Security announced Friday citizens who are waiting to receive their passports can now travel with photo identification and proof of passport application.

The temporary suspension will be in effect through the end of September.

At that time, the government is hoping to have cleared up a huge backlog of passport applications sparked by a new law requiring all travelers entering and leaving the United States by air to present a valid passport.

Before Jan. 23, passports were not necessary for travel to certain destinations in the Western Hemisphere.

News of the suspension is being hailed by travelers, some who have been waiting for passports as long as 14 weeks, the Los Angeles Times reports.

“I was about to write my congressman,” says Doug Le of Irvine, Ca., who scheduled a trip to the Bahamas with his two sons next week and is still waiting for their passports.

Source: UPI
June 8, 2007
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/70817/