“I don’t even know what street
Canada is on”
— Al Capone
As we prepare for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce Regional Visitor Center wants you to know that soon, without adequate or even additional identification, it won’t matter, as one will be faced with the proverbial “you can’t get there from here.”
Even though today you can technically cross our international borders with a regular driver’s license and birth certificate, as of June, 2009 one will be required to present a valid passport or new Enhanced Driver’s License to legally do so for all ground and water travel. A passport is already a requirement for all air travel.
Due to the ramifications of the unfortunate events of Sept. 11, 2001, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative was created to institute new and added safety measures concerning international travel. This Initiative primarily affects movement between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean.
One of these measures was some states choosing to develop a special electronic chip-enhanced driver’s license, or Enhanced Driver’s License. This new license, whose acquisition is voluntary and have been available since January, 2008, allows for smoother travel, particularly between Washington State, its initiator, and western Canada, which presently hosts over eleven million vehicles at the Peace Arch Border Crossing traveling between Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia yearly alone. These special licenses have proven extremely popular for several reasons, including their ease in procurement, the fact that they are less expensive than their passport counterparts (a license is $40 vs. $75 to $100 for a passport) and they don’t compromise the countries Federal Security Standards, while also allowing the Custom and Border Protection Agency to handle processes faster and more expediently. Several other states and provinces, including New York, Arizona, Vermont, Quebec, Ontario and Yukon, have begun authorizing and implementing the devices as well.
With the aforementioned Winter Olympic Games coming up in February, 2010 in Vancouver-Whistler, British Columbia, as well incorporating and accommodating the many, many thousands of attendees and tourists from all over our planet earth, preparation for everyone is vital. While a passport will be the only valid identification accepted for air travel, an Enhanced Driver’s License can make life much easier for local citizenry during the future, higher volume times in their itineraries, journeys, treks, excursions and expeditions that include Canada and our other neighbors, both north and south.
The Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce is an independent, non-profit, action agency committed to supporting and advancing the needs of the greater Marysville Tulalip area business communities.
