I am considering travel with my 7 & 10 yr.old to the carribean or mexico. I have a passport. Will my children need passports? What about a Carribean cruise; is a passport needed for children?

Here's the latest official info:
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

It makes a difference if you are arriving by air or sea and when you intend to travel.

If you stay within US territories in the Carribean, your children do not need passports. If you venture to other areas of the Carribean or Mexico, then yes they do UNLESS you are going by ship or car and then they don't until next year.

The best place to get this info is NOT the cruise line or airline. It is, as boothman directed you, to the US State Department website which will give you all the info.

Just to clarify. The kids do not need the passports to get INTO the Carribean countries (each country has their own rules -- some require them, some don't) however, they need them to get back INTO the US.

Have fun traveling.
Taitai

There are differing rules for the Caribbean and Mexico, and whether you arrive by air, land, or sea.

Refer to US Dept of State website - they just changed rules yet again about mode of travel to Mexico/Canada, etc.

That said, get them passports. I know it costs a fair amount, but they are approaching an age when travel opportunities may present themselves. It is also a valuable piece of ID for kids at an age when ID is difficult to come by.

If you do get them a passport, pay special attention to rules about parental presence at time of application. At various ages kid and/or one parent and/or both parents need to be present and if not both parents, some sort of notarized nonsense - check carefully and make sure the info you get is current.

News reports in the past couple of days have said that the passport requirement will exempt kids under 15 when the rules become effective in 2008...but check with the State Department anyway.

I suggest you go ahead and get the kids passports. We got our 10 & 12 year old passports last summer. We were flying within the continental U.S. However, the kids were required to have a government issued i.d. for airport security purposes. Our state does issue photo id, similar to driver's licenses. The passports just made more sense t us.

Difference is, the passports cost a lot more.

mom2boys - if is my understanding and experience that kids under 18 do not need ID to fly within US, but my kids (actually only one is still a kid) both have passports which we carry - they have never been requested although TSA and airline often ask their name and who we are.

Tammy, if you are taking you kids by yourself to Mexico, you should also research to the Mexican entry requirements. I believe Mexican law requires that a child traveling with only one parent carry a written, notarized consent letter from the absent parent

http://tinyurl.com/2mg2sz