Passports
U.S. Passport Card
The passport card facilitates entry and expedites document processing at U.S. land and sea ports-of-entry when arriving from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The card may not be used to travel by air. It carries the rights and privileges of the U.S. passport book and will be adjudicated to the exact same standards.
The Department of State is issuing passport cards in response to the needs of border resident communities for a less expensive and more portable alternative to the traditional passport book. The card has the same validity period as a passport book: 10 years for an adult, five for children 15 and younger. For adults who already have a passport book, they may apply for the card as a passport renewal and pay only $20. First-time applicants will pay $45 for adult cards and $35 for children.
To facilitate the frequent travel of U.S. citizens living in border communities and to meet DHS’s operational needs at land borders, the passport card contains a vicinity-read radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. This chip will link the card to a stored record in secure government databases. There will be no personal information written to the RFID chip itself.
For more information, please visit http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html.