After that date, quick car trips to Alberta, Canada, or Tijuana, Mexico, will not be possible without a passport.
But if you don't have the traditional passport book, the government has a new and cheaper alternative: the passport card.
According to Terri Butler of customer relations at Missoula's main post office, the cards have been in production since July 14 - and U.S. citizens can apply for them now at her Kent Street location.
A first-time adult applicant's passport card costs $45, compared to $100 for an adult passport book. A card for a child under 16 costs $35; the book costs $85. Adults who currently have valid passports can apply for the card as a renewal by mail for $20.
The card, which the State Department said is being issued in response to the needs of border communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative, has the same period of validity as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger.
Besides its convenient size and cheaper price, the passport card contains a chip with a coded ID number that border guards can read using radio frequency identification, or RFID, scanners. Traditional U.S. passports already use chip technology, but the chip's range is only about four inches and cannot be read when passport is closed.
According to the U.S. State Department's Web site, the chip will only contain photographs and biographical information about the holder, not other personal information. Butler said this technology is intended to expediate border travel.
Since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the U.S. government has been tightening travel identification rules under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.
Since Jan. 31 of this year, all travelers crossing land or sea borders between the U.S. and Canada have been required to display proof of citizenship with either a passport or a birth certificate. By June 2009, a passport book, passport card or state-enhanced driver's license will be required for all travel outside the U.S.
Butler said the Missoula post office has seen about 100 applications for the passport card since a pre-order system began on Feb. 1. Demand has increased in the last couple of months.
“Usually January to June is when the numbers start picking up, so by next January we expect to see a lot more people applying,” Butler said.
Processing time is currently about four weeks, and customers will be able to track the progress of their card application online beginning in mid-August.
Butler said to remember that if applying for a child's passport book or card, both parents and the child must be present.
The Kent Street post office is the only location accepting applications in Missoula. To find another location or for any other questions, visit www.travel.state.gov or call the National Passport Information Center at 1-877-487-2778.
Lauren Russell is a newsroom intern at the Missoulian. She is a journalism student at the University of Montana
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