FEBRUARY 12, 2009

Booth offers on-site titling, registration

Visitors to the Detroit Boat Show can title and register their new boats on site and learn more about Michigan's upcoming enhanced driver's license, Secretary of State Terri Lynn Land announced today.

The Secretary of State's booth will be on the Cobo Center's main show floor near the Anderson Boat Sales display. The show is open to the public Feb. 14 - 22.

"As they're enjoying a fun day at the Detroit Boat show, I encourage people to stop by our booth and find out more about the upcoming enhanced driver's license," Land said. "Pleasure boaters who enjoy making Ontario visits should consider the enhanced driver's license as a convenient option. Starting June 1, boaters will face the same, more stringent requirements drivers will face when they return to the United States."

Land was an early proponent of the enhanced driver's license as a way for travelers to speed their return from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, all travelers -- including U.S. citizens -- will need to produce a passport or an approved secure document to enter the country by land or sea beginning June 1.

Land's plan to offer enhanced driver's licenses and state-issued ID cards was approved in 2008 by the Michigan Legislature and the governor, as well as the U.S. Department of Homeland

Security. The cards will be voluntary and available only to Michigan residents who also are U.S. citizens. They will cost $45 and go on sale this spring. Michigan will continue offering its standard driver's license as well.

Besides inspecting the hundreds of new boat models on display, visitors can view the world's fastest offshore racing boat, casting demonstrations and real game fish in a 45-foot, glass-sided, water-filled semi-trailer, among other attractions.

Visit the department Web site at www.Michigan.gov/sos for more information on boat titling and registration, or other Secretary of State services. The Detroit Boat Show's Web site is www.DetroitBoatShow.net.