Just a friendly reminder that you now need a passport when traveling to a number of locations which previously did not need such documentation.
The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative passed by the US Congress two years ago calls for all American citizens leaving the country to possess a passport when re-entering the US from places such as Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
The original deadline for implementation of this requirement among travelers entering the US by land or sea was extended from January 2008 until June 2009 as a result of a major campaign by the travel industry.
The new requirements have led to a surge in passport applications. The average time required to process and fulfill a passport application has risen from an estimated 4-to-6 weeks last year to 10 weeks.
For more details check out this article (registration required).
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I processed my passport through the post office and it took me almost 6 weeks so then I found out about Texas Tower Passport and Visa Services which I told my wife about and she got hers back in 3 days. It really ended up being cheaper in the long run paying a little extra.