Beat the crowd -- file for a passport now

By many accounts, a meltdown in processing that held up passports for thousands of Americans earlier this year has eased. But new delays may be on the horizon.

It’s all because of a law that took effect in January mandating that travelers flying in from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean have passports. That led to incredible demand for the travel documents.

An exception granted in June allowed passport applicants to fly back into the U.S. with a government-issued photo ID plus proof that they had applied for a passport. But that waiver expires today. So, air travelers will now need a passport to enter the U.S. from those destinations.

The end of that waiver may cause a “small surge” in applications, said Betsy Anderson, the State Department’s new managing director for passport services. Of more concern, she said in an interview last week, is meeting demand next year, when the U.S. expects to begin requiring land and sea travelers to carry passports or other high-security identification to enter from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.

By the end of the 2007 fiscal year today, the agency estimates it will have issued more than 18 million passports, about 6 million more than the previous year. In fiscal year 2008, it expects to issue up to 26 million passport documents, or 44% more than this year.

Anderson’s advice: Apply now, even if you don’t plan to travel soon.

She said her agency is trying to cope with the expected surge by expanding passport staff and facilities.

“They are hiring like crazy,” said Colin Walle, president of Local 1998 of the National Federation of Federal Employees.

However, like many observers, he worries that it may be too little, too late to handle the load when the new rules take effect.

“At the pace we’re going now,” Walle said, “it’s questionable whether we’re going to be ready by next year.”

The stricter passport requirements stem from an effort, begun after the Sept. 11 attacks, to strengthen security at U.S. borders. The rules are being gradually phased in.

The backlog became apparent shortly after Jan. 23, when the U.S. began requiring passports from fliers re-entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. At its peak, applicants waited 12 weeks or more to get their passports.

Since the State Department has added staff, the typical wait has fallen back to the normal six or eight weeks, Anderson and Walle said.

What will happen next is anyone’s guess.

Sometime this fall, the federal government expects to issue a schedule for implementing new border rules, said Russ Knocke, spokesman for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which is working with the State Department on the program.

Like the federal tax code, the proposed requirements are complex and riddled with exceptions that testify to lobbying by affected parties, including governments and the travel industry.

Under the latest proposal, which dates to June, here is generally what travelers can expect:

On Jan. 31, the U.S. government would begin phasing out what it calls “the routine practice of accepting oral declarations alone at land and sea ports of entry.” Starting then, U.S. and Canadian citizens would need to present at least a birth certificate or other proof of citizenship plus a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license.

Starting in summer, most Americans reentering the country by land or sea would need either a U.S. passport or an approved alternative such as a yet-to-be-issued passport card. Among the exceptions would be Americans on cruises that begin and end in the U.S.; they could present a government-issued photo ID plus proof of citizenship.

Neither State Department nor Homeland Security representatives could say when the passport card, designed as a cheaper alternative to a passport for land and sea crossings, would be available.

But Knocke of Homeland Security said the new rules could take effect without such a card. Several states, in cooperation with Homeland Security, are testing higher-security driver’s licenses to see whether they might be used instead of passports.

“We’ve got to strengthen document security,” Knocke said. “But we’re trying to keep it convenient for people going across the border for a gallon of milk or soccer practice or to see Aunt Betty.”

All Aunt Betty has to do is figure out the rules. I suggest she hire an attorney.

jane.engle@latimes.com