U.S. Passport Card & Employment Verification
- Immigration News
The US State Department has decided that the soon-to-be issued U.S. Passport Card will suffice for employment verification purposes, and will be accepted on the Form I-9. The E-Verify Program – an online system that verifies an individual’s work eligibility – used by employers will also accept the new U.S. Passport Card.
The U.S. Passport Card was designed as a response to new border travel requirements, which require U.S. citizens to carry both a state issued identification card (e.g. drivers’ license) as well as a birth certificate or a U.S. Passport in order to cross U.S. land borders between the United States, Mexico, Canada, Bahamas and the Caribbean. The U.S. Passport Card holders will not need to carry the two forms of identifications mentioned above.
The U.S. Passport Card is a more convenient and cheaper alternative to a standard U.S. Passport for individuals crossing the United States border from the aforementioned countries.
As of February 2008, applications for the U.S. Passport Card became available and close to
half a million people have already applied for the card. The U.S. Passport Card is wallet sized, and is expected to become popular with individuals living in border towns and cruise passengers. The card is valid for 10 years, and is only applicable for land and sea travel. The U.S. Passport Card is cannot be used for international air travel, or any other travel requiring a U.S. passport.
The card is expected to be available to applicants in the fall of 2008.