The Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)requires U.S. and Canadian travelers to present a passport or other document that denotes identity and citizenship when entering the U.S. It is a result of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 (IRTPA).
The goal of WHTI is to facilitate entry for U.S. citizens and legitimate foreign visitors, while strengthening U.S. border security. Standard documents will enable the Department of Homeland Security to quickly and reliably identify a traveler.
WHTI will go into effect June 1, 2009 for land and sea travel into the U.S. WHTI went into effect for air travelers on January 23, 2007.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection even created new videos airing across the
U.S. and Canada hoping to avoid the backlog of applications that occurred when the air travel
requirements went into effect in 2008.
Canada:
US:
The irony is that people can cross the border between Germany and France without passport controls.
ReplyDelete