1/30/2008

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued a fact sheet on December 5, 2007, announcing the development of alternative documents to meet the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) requirements for entry at any land or seaport. 

For this purpose, the DHS is encouraging states to submit proposals to modify their driver's license requirements to satisfy the WHTI requirements. DOS Takes Longer to Issue U.S. Passports, WHTI requires all U.S. citizens to have passports when they travel by air to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean region. 

If new drivers' licenses meet the requirements of WHTI, according to the DHS, travelers would be provided with a low-cost alternative for border crossing purposes. Several states are already committed to issuing enhanced drivers' licenses (EDLs) in the near future.

The DHS has been developing guidelines for EDLs to also meet REAL ID act requirements. The requirements for all state-issued drivers' licenses, mandated by REAL ID, were reported to MurthyDotCom and MurthyBulletin readers in our May 27, 2005 article, Driver's License Provisions of the Real ID Act. 

The DHS is coordinating efforts to ensure that the standards for EDLs developed to meet WHTI requirements also meet the standards defined by the REAL ID Act. There are some significant distinctions, however. REAL ID requires proof of legal status in the United States; EDLs will be issued only to U.S. citizens.

The production of EDLs will require sophisticated, modern technology that allows for collection and storage of biometric data. The DHS has indicated that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will either maintain the information from the documents in its secure database or use a different agency that is able to meet CBP's standards. The EDLs will use Radio Frequency Identification Technology (RFID).

The DHS has also provided assurances that no personally identifiable information will be transmitted directly from the card, as the RFID chip will send a number that only has meaning to the secure DHS database, where the issuing information is held. This will allow the CBP officer to access biographic information, a photo, and the results of terrorist / criminal checks.