Delegate to Congress Donna Christensen thanked the U.S. State Department for clearly posting on their website that travel by U.S. citizens to and from the territories does not require a passport.
Christensen wrote to Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Assistant Secretary Jeff Bergner asking them to prominently post instructions on travel to U.S. territories so that it would not be confused with travel to non-U.S. Caribbean destinations.
“I am pleased that our requests were met with a prompt response,” said Christensen.
In addition to information on the territories being included in the Western Hemisphere’s Travel Initiative Fact Sheet, it is written in bold on the website on New Requirements for Travelers:
“The passport requirement does not apply to U.S. citizens traveling to or returning directly from a U.S. territory. U.S. citizens returning directly from a U.S. territory are not considered to have left the U.S. and do not need to present a passport. U.S. territories include: Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Is-land, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.”