OVERSEA TRAVELLERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17546, 11 August 1920, Page 6

OVERSEA TRAVELLERS.

PERMITS AND PASSPORTS. EXISTING REGULATIONS. The statement of passengers arriving on Monday by the Niagara that the vise of their passports by the United States Consul at Vancouver cost only 10s, while Auckland passengers to Vancouver have to pay £2 10s, is explained by th© fact that these passports were obtained prior to July 1, when the increased charge came into effect. A charge of 10 dollars is now being made by the United States for all passports for their own citizens, so that an American citizen in Auckland wishing to return to the States must pay the same amount as that charged a British citizen for a vise enabling him to land at an American port. A fact which apparently is not generally known to the public is that New Zealanders wishing to visit Canada without touching upon American territory are not required to obtain a passport, which costs 10s, a permit being sufficient. In a few cases in the past the American ConsulGeneral, Mr. A. A. Winslow, has granted a vise of permits, allowing the passenger to land at Honolulu, but this is no longer to be done. A question as to whether permits were still to be issued to passengers to Canada was raised in Auckland recently, and the matter was referred' to the permits and passport* head office. A letter has just been received by the Auckland branch to the effect that the present instructions, providing for the issue of pemite with photoganhs attached, to travellers from New Zealand whose destination is Canada still stands, except in cases where such travellers desire to land at Honolulu en route, when a paseoprt, to be vised by the American Consul-General will be necessary. At the present rate of exchange the cost of the vise is £2 13s 4d.