One of the beauties of traveling to Mexico and Canada has always been that there was never a need to have a passport to make the trip. Now imagine having planned and paid for a trip over a year ago and then realizing that a passport to Cancun may be needed because of the new laws that are in effect. It will depend on what type of a trip is being made, but chances are a passport will be needed.
While it is not generally assumed that if a traveler is leaving US soil for any reason, they will need a passport. With Cancun being located in a foreign country, it would only make sense that a passport would be needed to go there. This is probably true in most cases, but there are still a few circumstances when a passport may actually not be needed.
In order to figure out if you will need a passport to Cancun, it is first important to understand the new passport laws. As of June 1st, 2009, passports are required for travel to Mexico, Canada and nearby Caribbean Islands. These laws apply to air, land and sea travel. Prior to these laws, passports were not required for land and sea travel to Mexico. International Mexican travel only required a valid driver’s license or other government issued identification.
Anyone that is now traveling out of the United States to areas such as Cancun will almost always have to have a passport now. The new laws require that all land, sea and air travel passengers have a valid US Passport to re-enter the United States when coming in from any destination. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule.
The one loophole in the new passport laws are related to trips categorized as “closed loop” voyages. This is a cruise ship trip that starts in a US port and ends up in a US port. Because the traveler is not technically leaving the ship, meaning one-way travel, they can get away with only having a driver’s license on their trip. However, there are restrictions involved in the actual destinations of these cruises.
Countries that are accepted into this exception are such location as: Bermuda, The Virgin Islands, Canada, Mexico and some Caribbean Island locations. Because all areas are not fully accepted, it is always good to check with either the State Department or the travel agent to make sure that the destination does or does not require a passport for re-entry.
Citizens have been screaming at Homeland Security from day one about these new rules, but they are in place to protect everyone. Cancun has always been a location that US citizens could pretty much travel to and from without any hassle. In all honesty, the hassles will remain minimal; there are just some extra security measures in place to make the borders more secure.
In all honesty, while it may not be necessary to have a passport to Cancun, it is still a safe play to get one before any trip happens. A U.S. passport application is the be all and end all of documentation of citizenship and on the off chance that difficulties were encountered coming back into the United States or entering Cancun, the passport is like Willie Wonka’s Golden Ticket.
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