Passport Cards

Offices that issue passport cards, wallet-size travel documents that can be used by U.S. citizens to enter Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda and re-enter the United States at land border-crossings or sea ports-of-entry. The card provides a less expensive, smaller, and more convenient alternative to the passport book for those who travel frequently to these destinations by land or by sea, but cannot be used for travel by air. The passport card is designed for the specific needs of the northern and southern border resident communities and is not a globally interoperable travel document as is the traditional passport book. To facilitate the frequent travel of Americans living in border communities, and to meet the Department of Homeland Security"™s operational needs along the land borders, the passport card has a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. With this technology, Customs and Border Protection inspectors are able to access photographs and other biographical information stored in secure government databases before the traveler reaches the inspection station.