Passport Question
 

The question of whether US Citizens need passports has been asked so many times so here is the answer:

http://tinyurl.com/q9j5e

<font color="red"><u>Please note the following:</u></font>

<b><i>Many countries no longer accept hospital-issued birth certificates as acceptable documentation.


Minors traveling outside of their country of residence without both parents/guardians may require additional documents. For additional details see www.aa.com/children.


U.S. and Canadian citizens require a valid passport for travel to Costa Rica.


Passports issued by countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (see below for more information) must contain digital photographs. However, anyone issued a machine-readable passport prior to October 26, 2005, will be &quot;grandfathered in&quot; and allowed to visit the U.S. until the passport expires. Additional VWP information* is available at the U.S. Department of State website.


Effective December 31, 2006, all nationals, including U.S. citizens, will be required to hold a valid passport to enter the United States by air and by sea. This also applies when coming from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean and Bermuda. The new passport requirement means that all travelers, including U.S. citizens, who are departing the U.S. and intend to re-enter the United States are required to hold a valid passport upon departure from the U.S.


<font color="red">US Department of State Passport FAQ: </font>
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html


</i></b>

For some reason I am having trouble posting. Forgive if my attempts all show up.

Thanks for the info. You were very lucky to get good info from your airlines. Not a good idea otherwise to base your information on what they say. Too many people are still traveling without one based on airline info that they got. I have seen people turned around in Costa Rica and sent home because they didn't have one. Their airline said they didn't need one and they were let on the plane.

Your best up to date information is from the State Department.
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

Recently had a guest lose her vacation after following her airline's instructions in terms of birth certificate identificatino and then discovering that in spite of that, they wouldn't allow her to board when she arrived at the airport to begin the trip. Later they apparently owned up to their own mistake, as we sent them paperwork documenting her loss of deposit here and she said they would reimburse her for that and for her flights. Even so, she lost out on what was supposed to be a vacation at that time.

When even your airline can't figure out just what non-pasport ID you need, and the deadline for all to have passports to re-enter the U.S. looms only 6 months away, well I think it's time to just break down and get the bloody passport, folks, and then rest easy that you don't have to worry about any of that stuff happening to you. :-)

Steve

At the risk of sounding stupid, you do not need a passport to travel to/from Mexico until 12/31/06, correct?

I would love to get a passport but the cost of the wedding and honeymoon I really don't want to spend the extra money on that right now if I don't need to.

Suzie, I respectfully disagree. :) I think the best site for this info is the embassy or consulate of the country to which you'll be traveling. I've seen cases where the State Department's webpage is not up to date. When Costa Rica implemented the passport requirement, there was a long lag time before that info appeared on the State Dept. site.

My understanding with Mexico is that 12/31/06 is the deadline for passport requirement to reenter the U.S. by air or sea; 12/31/07 will be the deadline when returning my land. But in this case, it's a U.S. requirement, not one that Mexico has implemented.

Jeff, I was thinking more in terms of what the US requirements were rather than another countries I guess. 9/11 still weighs heavy. Just like cars on the roads(when not in the cities with those darned one way streets), the planes go in both directions and it is a good idea to check both ends. I respectfully thank you for reminding me of that :-). Do I get credit for the airline part???? There have been a lot of people ticked off about getting bad info from the airlines.

The summary above by Jeff_Costa_Rica is correct for Mexico, as can be verified on State Dept links. And yes it's an excellent point to keep in mind, for those concerned about the cost, that this the new requirements are being put in place _by the US_, and that that is being done out of concern for increased national security in the wake of 9/11.

As a practical concern, it's correct that you don't need a passport prior to those deadlines. However if you don't have a passport, then you do need other identification. And then you get into rather a mess involving confusion over which types of birth certificates from which states/authorities are already OK, which are not acceptable, whether there is or needs to be a raised seal, and other such things that, as in the case of our guest, at least, even the entities responsible for checking them (airlines) apparently don't understand well themselves.

Even if the national security motivation is not of a concern to you, I imagine that practical concern (will I really be allowed to go?) would. However there are other good reasons to carry a passport, such as that it is an easily replaceable form of ID that proves your citizenship (unlike a birth certificate) and that (according to the majority of reports I've seen posted, though some differ) it speeds processing through immigration both ways.

Finally, it's true that there is a cost involved. However this cost is really much, much less than most people pay for other regular aspects of their lives without even batting an eye, once you consider that it's a one-time payment that covers 10 full years. So at/under 10 bucks per _year_, it's almost certainly less than your cell phone or cable TV or Internet provider charges you per _month_.

And anyway, you have to get one anyway, soon enough, unless you're never travelling here again. So I think it's worth asking yourself why you would want to wait for the rush over everybody else getting theirs as the deadline gets nearer or nearer.

:-)

Steve

I agree with Ryberg. Why not just get the passport?

ethel...why risk not being able to have a honeymoon at all because ou should have gotten the stupid passport? :)

How expensive is getting a passport?

Certainly, Suzie. :) You've rightly pointed out that international travel is a two-way street and that both nations have requirements worth checking.

Remember the thread a few months ago from the man who was taking his family to Costa Rica? Everyone except his young child possessed a passport. He called American Airlines to see if that was okay and was assured by the agent with whom he spoke that it was. The counter agent at the airport let them all board too. Guess what happened when they arrived in Costa Rica? They were all put on the first plane back home.

Like you, Suzie, I've seen this happen to other people upon arrival in San Jose.

I was once caught relying on out-of-date info on that State Department website, so I'm sensitive to that. I traveled to Paraguay three years ago soon after it had instituted a visa requirement for U.S. citizens. To be on the safe side, I checked State's website and saw nothing different than for my previous trips. The airline let me board too. Imagine my surprise upon arrival being asked for my visa. By rights, I should have been put on the first flight out, but they were very nice and let me stay. I paid a fine upon leaving that actually turned out to be less than the cost of the visa. The State Dept. website was wrong, and the airline should not have let me board, but ultimately, I accept the blame for not knowing. I call embassies or consulates after that.

Thank you Jeff. I (and I am sure others) appreciate your valuable info. Nothing like real experiences such as yours to get the real lowdown on things.

Suzie

Another thought. Some localities require a passport which is valid for a period of time AFTER the visitor plans to return to his home country. (30-60-or 90 days) I do not know how this may affect travelers as we approach the end of the year as new regulations are put into place.

Considering what we all pay for these trips, weddings and business it is hardly an expense that should cause a burden.