Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative

The Embassy of the United States would like to remind U.S. citizens traveling and residing in Jamaica of the most recent timeline for the implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.  The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 mandated that the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, develop and implement a plan to require U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport, or other secure document when entering the United States.   

In the implementation plan, the Initiative will be rolled out in phases, providing as much advance notice as possible to the affected public to enable them to meet the terms of the new guidelines.   The proposed timeline will be as follows:
· December 31, 2006 – Requirement applied to all air and sea travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda.
· December 31, 2007 – Requirement extended to all land border crossings as well as air and sea travel. 
In April 2005, the Departments of State and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced a proposed plan to be implemented in three phases beginning on December 31, 2005 for the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.  After further review and considering the delay in publishing the public notice in the Federal Register, State and DHS recognized that implementing the December 31, 2005, phase would be problematic for travelers.  This new timeline will simplify the implementation and provide a longer lead-time for travelers to come into compliance with the requirements.
 
A U.S. passport will be the required travel document for all U.S. citizens traveling within the Western Hemisphere or for re-entry.  U.S. citizen residents of Jamaica are asked to plan well in advance of the deadline in order to ensure that they have a valid passport.  U.S. citizen residents of Jamaica who need to apply for a passport may do so any business day between the hours of 8:00 and 11:00 a.m. at the U.S. Embassy’s American Citizen Services unit located at 142 Old Hope Road, Kingston 6, or between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. at the United States Consular Agency, St. James Shopping Plaza, Montego Bay.  Passport applications and instructions are available at the Embassy’s website at http://kingston.usembassy.gov.