US relaxes visa rule for children

NEW RULE: Bush administration says this move will help more and more families and school groups.

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Detroit: Children will be exempt from new rules that will require travelers to show passports when entering the US at land or sea borders, a move the Bush administration said is aimed at helping families and school groups.

The new passport requirements will take effect as soon as January 2008. In a change from earlier plans, children aged 15 or younger with parental consent will be allowed to cross the borders at land and sea entry points with certified copies of their birth certificates rather than passports.

Beginning January 23, nearly all air travelers entering the US who are citizens of Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or the Caribbean - as well as returning American citizens - have been required to display passports. Children entering the US by air will still be required to show passports.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff discussed the relaxation in rules at a speech on Thursday to the Detroit Economic Club before touring the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, a link with Windsor, Ontario under the Detroit River.

“This is going to make it a lot easier for kids to cross the border without having to get passports and pass cards,'' Chertoff said. ``By the way, it's specifically designed to make it cheaper for families.''

Children aged 16 through 18 traveling with school, religious, cultural or athletic groups and under adult supervision C with only their birth certificates.