Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (“WHTI”), federally recognized Native American tribes can enter into agreements with CBP to develop tribal identification cards that can be designated as acceptable documents to establish identity and citizenship upon entering the United States at land and sea ports-of-entry from contiguous territories or adjacent islands.

CBP is working with numerous federally recognized Native American tribes to facilitate the development of such cards and as part of the process, CBP specifies the requirements for developing and issuing WHTI-compliant tribal cards. This includes a testing and auditing process designed to ensure that the cards are produced and issued in accordance with the terms of the agreements.  The Secretary of DHS or Commissioner of CBP may then designate the tribal card as an acceptable WHTI-compliant document.

The Kootenai Tribe of Idaho voluntarily established a program to develop a WHTI-compliant tribal card and after nearly three years of development, testing and evaluating, the Commissioner of CBP has designated tribal cards issued by the Kootenai valid for travel and to denote identity and U.S. or Canadian citizenship.

If you have any questions regarding WHITI compliance, please contact us at 1-877-721-6100 or send us an e-mail by clicking here.

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Page summary:  Tribal Cards issued by the Kootenai Tribe are WHTI compliant.