United States immigration officials Friday temporarily relaxed passport requirements for some American citizens returning from trips to the Caribbean, Canada and Mexico. The US State Department announced that due to longer than anticipated processing times, nationals who had already applied for passports but had not yet received them would be allowed to return to the US by simply showing any government issued photo identification until September 30. However, the department stated that in order to benefit from this extension travellers would be asked to show official proof of application for a passport. Caribbean hoteliers have blamed the passport requirement, which took effect on January 23 for a fall-off in arrivals from the US. Caribbean Hotel Association President, Alec Sangunitti, said the initiative was one of the key factors responsible for declines of up to 15 per cent in American market for at least three Caribbean countries. Reprinted from radioja.com