My husband thinks we should take our birth certificates along with our passports on our trip overseas. I haven't been to Europe since 1973 so I decided to ask because I feel that the passport is enough. Going to London, Paris, Athens and Greek Islands. What do you think?

Nobody wants to see your birth certificate. Most European countries don´t even have an official birth certificate.

No-one has the foggiest idea what other countries' birth certificates look like: most of us don't have the foggiest what our own look like.

So they have absolutely no status. Passports were designed so that foreigners could establish their identities. You need nothing else, except a driving licence if you want to hire a car.

No need at all; nobody will ask for it.

"Most European countries don´t even have an official birth certificate."

What does that mean?

"I was born in the rainy summer of the calf with two heads, just after the barn burned down."

Nobody will ask for a birth certificate; everyone will ask for a passport. Even if you take a birth certificate they still won't ask for it.

Why would someone in Greece want to see you birth certificate written in English? Your passport is sufficient, and even that is in English. I don't understand why your husband thinks this is necessary or any kind of official identification or legal document. Another country, such as Greece, would only accept it as such if it had been authenticated by the (for example) Greek embassy in the US, which usually involves a Greek translation and notarization.

I wouldn't bother. What I would do though is to make two copies of your passport. Leave one with a family member and bring one with you and keep it in a safe spot. It will help to expedite getting a new passport should anything happen to the original.

I'm guessing here but maybe the OP is asking about the birth certificate to make replacing a lost/stolen passport easier?

The suggestion to make a copy of the passport would help in that situation.

As long as the picture still bears a reasonable resemblance it can be used as valid ID.

It wouldn't make sense to have birth certificates as proof of ID in the case of lost or stolen passports because then the wife would (probably) also have to have a copy of their marriage certificate/license to show her married name.

I tend to photo the main page of the passport and stick the paper print in one of my bags. Then I have a fall back in case the idiots at the embassy don't beleive who I am

"Most European countries don´t even have an official birth certificate"

Where on earth did you get this peculiar idea?

How could a birth certificate be proof of who you are, anyway, it has no information on you as an adult. You have to show your certified birth certificate to get a passport in the first place, as I recall, as proof of citizenship.

Maybe the idea was if you lost yours, then you'd need the BC to replace it, I don't know, but that is really overkill I think of caution. It's just too risky taking such an important document on a trip for no real reason.

I think elina is from a European country, but I don't understand that comment, either. Most all countries in the world that are fairly developed have official vital records and documents, and have birth certificates. European countries definitely do (I know France, Spain and Germany do).

Can't imagine why you would want to bring this. All you're doing is taking the chance of losing a valuable document it would be a pain to replace. Just be sure you have a Xerox of your passport with you - so in case something happes to it you can get it replaced immediately.