Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC)

The new security standards surrounding the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card can be confusing, so if you do not yet have a TWIC, or if you don’t know how it works, please read through the description below. TWIC is administered by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard. Please visit the official TWIC site for further information.

What is TWIC?

The Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) is an identification card required by federal law for workers to gain access to Coast Guard-regulated maritime facilities without authorized escort. Everyone whose work regularly brings them to and from the landside of the Port of New York and New Jersey – including stevedores, equipment operators, contractors, drayage and truck drivers, and Coast Guard-credentialed merchant mariners – must have a TWIC.

This means that if your work regularly brings you to the Port Authority public berths, container terminals, bulk terminals, cruise ship terminals, or other critical port infrastructure as designated, you need a TWIC (the only exceptions are federal officials, law enforcement, or emergency workers engaged in official duties).

U.S. Mariners holding a Merchant Marine Document or a Merchant Marine License may obtain a TWIC. Foreign mariners are not eligible.

A TWIC alone does not grant unconditional access to Port facilities. To enter Port facilities, you must have:

a TWIC
a business reason to enter a facility
an employer- or trade association-issued identification card (or a SeaLink identification card if you are a truck driver)
registered your TWIC with the Port Authority’s Physical Access Control System
if you are a truck driver, registered your TWIC with SeaLink.

While at the facility, you must always display your TWIC on your outermost garment, above the waistline. Upon request from the TSA, Coast Guard, or other official, you must be prepared to present your TWIC PIN and the fingers whose prints are on your TWIC. Failure to comply could result in a $25,000 fine.
If you do not have your TWIC – including if it’s lost or stolen – you will be denied access to the facility. If you do lose your TWIC, please immediately notify the Port Authority.

Occasional visitors to Port facilities may do so without getting a TWIC, provided they have an authorized escort. If you visit Port facilities with an escort eight or more times in a year, you will be required to get a TWIC.

How to Obtain Your TWIC

TWIC is administered by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the U.S. Coast Guard. Please visit the official TWIC site for detailed information on the application process.

The process takes three steps:

Make an appointment with an enrollment center by calling 866 DHS-TWIC (347-8942), online, or just walk in to your nearest enrollment center. To find the enrollment center nearest you, click here
Visit the enrollment center. You will be photographed and fingerprinted, and a background check will be run. You must bring correct identification documents. For a list of acceptable documentation, click here
You’ll be notified by e-mail or phone when your TWIC is ready. You must pick up your TWIC at the enrollment center at which you originally applied. When you come in, your identity will be verified, you will select a 6-8 digit personal identification number (PIN), and your card will be activated. Please remember your PIN and which fingerprints were used to activate your TWIC. You must know both to gain access to Port facilities.

TWIC and SeaLink

Anyone with a SeaLink identification must have a TWIC. You must register your TWIC with the Port Authority’s SeaLink administrator Port Newark office; TWIC registration is free. Click here for location and hours of the SeaLink office

If You Forget Your TWIC PIN

If you received your TWIC after October 21, 2008, go to the nearest enrollment center (walk-ins welcome) and reset the PIN on the spot. Then go to the SeaLink office to re-register your TWIC.

If you received your TWIC before October 21, 2008 and have forgotten the PIN you chose during activation:

Go to the SeaLink office or your local enrollment center and try to figure it out. You have 10 tries to get it right. The PIN will be between 6-8 digits.
If you aren’t successful, immediately call the TSA Help Desk at 866 347-8942 and ask for a replacement TWIC. Hold on to your original TWIC; you will need to turn it in when you receive your new TWIC.

Reporting a Lost, Stolen, or Damaged TWIC

Report a lost, stolen, or damaged TWIC to the TWIC Help Desk at 866 DHS-TWIC (866 347-8942), or in person at a TWIC enrollment center. Please also report it to the Port Authority by calling or e-mailing Louis Vitale, Maritime Security Coordinator, at 212 435-4282 or PAMarSec@panynj.gov

Replacement of a lost, stolen, or damaged card is $60.

Your replacement card will be sent to the TWIC enrollment center at which you first enrolled. It can take up to two weeks to process. You will be notified when the card is ready for pick-up.

After you apply for a replacement card, you many have seven days of unescorted access to a facility, at the facility’s discretion, if you meet the following criteria:

The facility’s security staff knows that you have a TWIC;
You previously had unescorted access; and
You have a ticket number issued for your replacement card as proof that replacement is in process.

You may be granted additional time at the sole discretion of the Coast Guard Captain of the Port.

Suspension of Access Privileges

The Port Authority reserves the right to suspend access to Port facilities to anyone convicted of a crime.

Escorting non-TWIC Holders

On a case by case basis, the Port Authority will permit individuals without TWIC to access the Port Authority Public Berths accompanied by an authorized escort. All escorts must be approved as such in advance, and must complete a three-hour Maritime Security Awareness training course provided as needed by the Port Authority.

To apply for TWIC Escort Sponsorship and Privileges, click here