Airline passengers will once again need valid passports in order to travel between the U.S. and Bermuda, the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico starting October 1,2007 according to the Department of Homeland Security.

On September 30, a temporary rule is set to expire that permitted travelers who had applied for but did not yet receive U.S. passports to proceed with trips to countries within the Western Hemisphere, so long as they had a government-issued photo ID and proof that their passport applications were pending. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, a law enacted last January, all airline passengers are required to present a valid passport in order to enter and depart from the U.S.

Going on a cruise or traveling by vehicle across the land border to Canada or Mexico. U.S. citizens do not need a passport, but need to be able to show a government-issued identification. U.S. citizens arriving by land and sea must be able to prove that they are U.S. citizens. This rule may change as early as January 2008, when the Departments of Homeland Security and State begin to implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) at land and sea ports of entry.