Canadians preparing for Passport cards, Arizonans nonplussed about new IDs
01 August, 2008
category: Government, RFID
While the U.S. State Department and Washington States are already issuing the Passport card, some Canadian provinces are getting ready to issue the new ID cards as well, according to a report from the Regina Leader-Post.
Resident of Saskatchewan will be able to apply for new Passport cards and enhanced driver licenses next April, just in time for when they’ll be required for land and sea border crossings into the U.S. on June 1.
Meanwhile, Arizona citizens aren’t rushing out to apply for the new documents, according to a report in the Arizona Republic. More than 350,000 travelers have applied for the card and 20,123 have come from Arizona. Travel agents in Arizona say they have not been fielding too many, if any, questions about the new ID. “I haven’t had a soul ask me about it,” said Eric Dahl, travel consultant with Your Travel Center in Tempe.
The Passport card is an RFID-enabled ID that can be used at land and sea border crossings between the U.S., Mexico and Canada as well as select Caribbean countries.