State sets schedule for passport card procurement
- By Wilson P. Dizard III
- Oct 19, 2006
The State Department plans to request advice from vendors on how to roll out its
passport card starting Monday.
Frank Moss, State's deputy assistant secretary for passport services, said this morning that his agency would issue a request for information on the passport card project on Monday. Speaking at ITAA's IdentEvent today, Moss said State would follow up with a vendor conference on Nov. 17.
State expects to issue a proposal request for the passport card production contract. Moss said the rest of the schedule is less precise.
State expects to launch passport card production in summer 2007, Moss said.
The new passport card will be furnished as a lower-cost alternative for citizens to use instead of passports as secure proof of identity and citizenship when they re-enter the country. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative citizens entering by land at the northern and southern borders will be required to present either a passport or the cheaper passcard to gain entry to the country as of June 2009.