A Pass Port To Cancun Is Usually A Safe Bet When Vacationing

One of the beauties of traveling to Mexico and Canada has always been that there was never a need to have a passport to make the trip. Now imagine having planned and paid for a trip over a year ago and then realizing that a passport to Cancun may be needed because of the new laws that are in effect. It will depend on what type of a trip is being made, but chances are a passport will be needed.

Since Cancun is not a part of the United States, one can safely assume that they would need a passport to travel there. However, while this will usually be the case, there can be exceptions. It is perfectly understandable how some people are very confused by the whole process because these laws were not even in place about a year ago.

New passport laws that were put into place in June 2009 have made things a bit confusing for many people. Prior to that date, a passport was not always necessary when traveling to US border countries. Up until that point, as long as a traveler had a valid driver’s license, they could pretty much head to countries such as Mexico and Canada at will.

Anyone traveling to Cancun will most definitely need a passport. Since the new passport laws cover sea travel, logic dictates that anyone on a cruise to Cancun would also need a passport. However, there is one exception in the sea travel clause.

Travelers on cruises to certain international destinations are not required to carry passports provided that the cruise is deemed “closed loop.” A closed loop cruise is any cruise that starts and finishes in the same port or same port country. However, it is important to note that these closed loop exemptions only apply to cruises that begin and end in the United States, and only on cruises that visit certain international countries.

Approved international countries include: Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and select Caribbean Islands. That being the case, a passport is not necessary for a closed loop cruise to Cancun. However, a closed loop cruise to South America would necessitate a passport.

All of these changes were made because of Homeland Security. It is no secret that border security was pretty lax, especially on the Canadian and Mexican borders. People were literally coming and going as they pleased. In order to secure the borders, these new passport laws were put in place to make it more difficult for people to get across the border into the United States.

Anyone traveling to Cancun from the United States will almost certainly need to fill out a U S passport application. The only time a passport to Cancun is not necessary is when a person is traveling to Cancun in a closed loop cruise. Any other form of travel will require that a valid USA passport is in hand or that person will risk not being able to enter the foreign country.