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If you are planning on having Lapband or any other surgery within the next few months, you should go ahead and start the process of obtaining your passport. It takes approximately 4 to 6 weeks. The most convenient place to get one is the post office.

If traveling in the Western Hemisphere, (Canada, Mexico, Caribbean, Central and South America) a U.S. citizen should have either a valid U.S. Passport OR a certified copy of their birth certificate or baptismal record with current photo identification issued by a government agency (state I.D. card, driver’s license, Military I.D.). (Minors under the age of 14 are not required to show a photo ID, State Departments of Motor Vehicles will usually provide a non-driver’s license for people 14 and older. Public School photos are also acceptable.)

In the proposed implementation plan, which is subject to a period of initial public comment, 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 air, sea and land border crossings

When the proposal is formally adopted, the CBP website will make that announcement.

If traveling from outside the Western Hemisphere, all U.S. citizens MUST present a passport, including children. Due to heightened security it is strongly recommended that U.S. citizens also present their passports – if they have one – even when returning from travel only to Canada or Mexico. (Some airlines require a passport even for travel to another country in the Western Hemisphere and will not let you board without it. Call to make sure you know their requirements.)

If a U.S. citizen does not have a passport or a certified copy of a birth certificate, the following may be accepted as proof of citizenship: – A U.S. state or federal government-issued birth record (note: hospital-issued birth certificates are not acceptable) or baptismal record. If a U.S. citizen child was recently born, and no copy of the birth certificate is available, bring whatever paperwork the hospital has given you as a record of the birth. If you do not have a certified copy of your birth certificate, one can be requested from the Vital Records office in the State where you were born.

Laminated Birth Certificates are not useful for purposes of establishing citizenship because it is impossible to determine if the seal is raised (an attribute of a certified copy).- Certificate of Citizenship, or Certificate of Naturalization [note: notarized photocopies or notarized fax copies of such certificates are acceptable, but affidavits of citizenship and voter registrations are not).

Neither of the above will be acceptable unless accompanied by a government issued ID.

At this time, there is no legal requirement for U.S. citizens to present ID for re-entry into the U.S. However, If you travel internationally in the Western Hemisphere without any of the above documents, be prepared for very long delays while CBP Officers attempt to verify your citizenship. Such research is very time consuming and places a heavy burden on CBP Officers whose time could be better spent identifying travelers who are trying to enter the U.S. unlawfully.