Seen at KGO-TV:
Starting Monday, you need a passport to get to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean by air. Birth certificates or driver’s license no longer will do, and authorities say today went without any major problems.[...]
[Before the new rule was suspended this summer the] wait time for a passport was four to six weeks longer than normal. People who couldn’t get passports on time had to cancel travel plans and on Monday, there was no line.
“We’re so happy to say that the wait time is back to our regular processing time which is 6-8 weeks,” said Tracy Graff from the San Francisco Passport Agency.
Now is a good time to get a passport if you don’t have one already. The rules change again on January 31 when you’ll need a passport to travel to any international destination whether you’re going by land, sea or air.
There’s been no word yet on when the Geheimstaatspolizei will implement internal passport controls.