Apply now for passport cards

You’re driving to the border with Canada. A chip embedded in a plastic card in your pocket begins emitting radio waves that tell the border guard exactly who you are 20 feet before you arrive.

This is not the future. It’s in the works now.

It’s called a passport card, and the U.S. government has begun offering it as a cheap alternative to traditional documents for Americans visiting Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Bermuda by land or sea. (The cards can’t be used for air travel.)

The cards are set to be ready by spring, but United States residents can apply for them now.

Here’s how the new card works: The chip contains an ID number that border guards can read using radio frequency identification, or RFID, scanners.

“It reads like a radio frequency at border checkpoints,” said Ishmael Raines of the Mercer County (N.J.) Clerk’s Office, which issues the cards and passports.

Passport books also are using chip technology, but that chip’s range is about 4 inches and cannot be read when the passport book is closed, according to information supplied by the State Department.

The State Department has maintained the chip is secure from identity theft, but some critics contend it raises privacy issues.

The government has been tightening travel rules since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Changes in travel requirements have significantly increased the number of passport applications, said Darleen Reid-De Meo of the U.S. Postal Service.

It is estimated the demand for passports will grow from 12 million to 17 million in 2008, Reid-De Meo said.

Here are tips for applying:

•Find your nearest passport office at travel.state.gov/passport. Many are in public libraries or post offices.

•Bring proof of U.S. citizenship or naturalization, such as a birth certificate, a previous passport or a naturalization certificate.

•Bring a state or government photo ID, such as a driver’s license. Passport application requires two recent identical photographs that meet specific passport requirements.

•To save time, download the passport application at www.usps.com/passport and fill out beforehand. Don’t sign the form; the passport acceptance clerk must witness the signing.

•For children under 16, both parents’ consent and proof of parental relationship are required.

•An adult passport book will cost $100 total, including passport fee and execution fee. An adult passport card costs $45. A child passport book is $85; the card costs $35.

More information is available at www.usps.com/passport or www.travel.state.gov.