Travel and Tourism

Passports, Visas, and Immunizations

With certain exceptions, a passport is required by law for all US citizens, including infants, to travel outside the United States and its territories. The exceptions of travel without passport to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and countries in the Caribbean were eliminated in 2007 by implementation of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative. Passports can be applied for at 9,000 passport acceptance facilities nationwide, including most government facilities. State Department passport agencies accept applications only by appointment, usually from those in need of expedited service (two weeks or less). Passport agencies are located in Aurora CO, Boston MA, Chicago IL, Honolulu HI,

Houston TX, Los Angeles CA, Miami FL, New Orleans LA, New York City NY, Norwalk CT, Philadelphia PA, San Francisco CA, Seattle WA, and Washington DC. Everyone must apply in person for his or her first passport; those issued to persons aged 16 and older may be renewed by mail if the person’s expiring passport is undamaged and in his or her possession and was issued no more than 15 years previously. Applicants should submit the appropriate paperwork several months in advance of planned travel to allow for processing. New passport fees total US$100 for persons age 16 and up (US$75 application fee, US$25 execution fee) and US$85 for those under 16 (US$60 application fee, US$25 execution fee); expedited service is an additional US$60. Renewal fees are US$75 for all ages. Passports are mailed to applicants in about six weeks or about two weeks for rush service. The status of a passport application may be checked online at <http://travel.state.gov/pass-port/get/status/status_2567.html> or by contacting the National Passport Information Center at 1877-487-2778 (toll-free; automated information; representatives available weekdays 6 AM to 12 AM ET, except federal holidays).

To apply in person for a passport requires submission of an application form; proof of US citizenship, such as a certified birth certificate; proof of identity, such as a driver’s license; two identical recent 2*2-inch photographs; a social security number; and all applicable fees. Options for proving identity or citizenship are listed on the State Department Web site. A passport is valid for 10 years, or 5 years if issued to a person age 15 or younger. To renew by mail requires submission of an application form, the most recent passport, two identical photographs, and applicable fees. Frequent travelers may request a passport with extra pages. A passport that is lost or stolen in a foreign country must be immediately reported to local police and the nearest US embassy or consulate to allow for the citizen’s reentry into the US. Replacing a lost or stolen passport requires completion of a form reporting the loss or theft and an application for a new passport, as well as the usual documentation, photographs, and fees.

Visas. A visa is usually a stamp placed on a US passport by a foreign country’s officials allowing the passport owner to visit that country. It is the traveler’s responsibility to check visa regulations and obtain visas where necessary before traveling to a foreign country. Visas may be acquired from the embassy or consulate of the intended destination and can be applied for by mail. Processing fees vary among countries.

Immunizations. Under regulations adopted by the World Health Organization, some countries require International Certificates of Vaccination against yellow fever. Other immunizations, such as those for tetanus and polio, should also be up-to-date. Preventive measures for malaria are recommended for some destinations. There are no immunization requirements for returning to the United States. Many countries require HIV/AIDS testing for work, study, or residence permits or for long-term stays.

Travelers to and from the US

Data for 2002 showed that overseas travel to the US dropped significantly during 2002, primarily as a response to the terrorist attacks of 11 Sep 2001. Since then, however, travel has rebounded atvarying levels. 2007 data for all US resident travel to specific over seas countries are not available, but data for air travel to the various regions, as well as Mexico and Canada, are presented below. Source: US Department of Commerce, International Trade Administration, Office of Travel and Tourism Industries.

Upon returning to the US from a foreign country, travelers must pay duty on items acquired outside the US. If the value of the items is greater than the allowable exemption, duty must be paid on the excess amount. The general exemption is US$800 per person, but it can also be US$200 or US$1,600 in certain situations. Exemptions apply if the items are in the traveler’s possession, are for the traveler’s own use, and are declared to US Customs. The traveler must also have been out of the country for at least 48 hours (unless returning from Mexico or the US Virgin Islands) and must not have used any part of the exemption within the past 30 days; if one or both of these requirements does not apply, the allowable exemption drops to US$200 per person and includes additional restrictions. The general exemption of US$800 includes no more than 200 previously exported cigarettes, 100 cigars, and no more than one liter of alcoholic beverages. Cuban tobacco products are prohibited unless purchased in Cuba on authorized travel. Family members may combine their total exemptions in a joint declaration. The US$800 exemption also applies to travelers returning from any of 28 countries and dependencies in the Caribbean Basin or Andean Region but may include two liters of alcoholic beverages, as long as one of the liters was produced in one of these. The 28 countries and dependencies are Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, the British Virgin Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala,

Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Montserrat, the Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. A US$1,600 exemption applies to travelers returning from a trip that included the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, or Guam and includes 1,000 cigarettes and five liters of alcoholic beverages; of this amount, 800 cigarettes and one liter of alcohol must be from one of the US islands. The US$1,600 exemption also applies to multi-country travel (such as a cruise) to a US possession and any of the 28 Caribbean Basin and Andean Region countries and dependencies, as long as no more than US$800 worth of goods was purchased in those locations.

Gifts valued at US$100 or less (US$200 or less for gifts sent from American Samoa, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands) may be sent to the US without duty as long as no single person receives more than this value within a single day. Alcoholic beverages may not be sent by mail; tobacco and alcohol-based perfumes worth more than US$5 are not included in the exemption. Travelers may ship goods home for personal use without duty if the value of the goods is US$200 or less and no single person receives more than this value within a single day. This personal exemption increases to US$1,600 for goods purchased and shipped from American Samoa, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands.

1Data for China include Hong Kong. 2Excludes Canadian and Mexican visitors to the US. 3Guam is a US territory. If Guam were excluded, Pennsylvania would rank 10th on the list with about 812,000 overseas visitors.

Customs Exemptions

US State Department Travel Warnings

The State Department issues Travel Warnings when it is believed best for Americans to avoid certain countries in the interest of safety. It also releases Travel Alerts of more short-term hazards, such as terrorist threats or political coups, that may endanger American travelers; these include an expiration date when the announcement need no longer be heeded. The department also makes available Consular Information Sheets for all countries, which may discuss safety conditions in that country not severe enough to require a travel warning. Current information can be found at <http://travel.state.gov>.

Travel Warnings were in effect on 3 Jul 2008 for the following: Afghanistan, Algeria, Burundi, the Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, East Timor, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Iraq, Israel (including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip), Kenya, Lebanon, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sri Lanka, The Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Yemen.

Travel Alerts in effect on the same day and set to expire on various dates in July 2008-January 2009 included advisories for Burma (Myanmar), China, Mali, Mexico, Tunisia, and Zimbabwe; the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico (for hurricane season); and a worldwide caution.