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Choose Your Baja Surf Spot
Mexico Travel and the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative
The recent changes due to the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative have been causing confusion among Mexico travelers, and as an unfortunate result, tourism related businesses on the other side of the border have seen a sharp decline in travel. Here are some of the facts on this new initiative so you can stay informed and be prepared…
1. As of January 23, 2007 you will need a passport to fly to and from Mexico, as well as Canada and the Bahamas. This first phase of the initiative only applies to air travel.
2. The second phase of the initiative, which applies to auto, sea and travel by foot does not go into effect until approximately June of 2009, but that date has been pushed back several times. If you don’t have a passport, you still have plenty of time to take that road trip to Baja that you have been thinking about!
If you currently don’t have a passport soon you will be able to get a “passport card.” This is a cheaper, more compact identification card that will be about the size of a credit card and will easily fit into your wallet. Initial talks about the passport card estimated that they would be $30-$40 cheaper than a traditional passport, which currently costs $97.
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