Passport info needed

Phyllis - I don't know about Mexico, but I know one is required for travel into Canada now. If I were you, I'd play it safe and get the passports. That way there will be no worries. I think passports are more convenient than carrying multiple IDs, and that way there will be no worries at all at the border. Have fun on your trip!!
 
How long do you have before you go? You can get them expedited, but it will cost you. If you're in a big hurry, there are passport couriers that will actually go to the passport office for you. That's pretty pricey, but I used them to get my passport renewed so I could make it to my London trip. I got it a week after I sent it to them. Would have been 2 days earlier, but I needed to have the photo retaken.
 
Hi Phyllis,

Yes I do believe it is true of a passport for Mexico. I work at the post office and we process passports. I am not a passport agent but can give you some brief info.

Call your local PO and see if they do passports.

Both you and your DH will have to be present for your 14 & 16 yr old to get a passport. If one parent cannot be present there is a form to be filled out and needs to be notarized.

Currently the dept of state is saying regular passports are taking 10-14 weeks. And if expedited it will take 4-6 weeks. They are now saying that if you expedite and don't recieve your passport you will get a refund on the expedited fee.

If you need passport sooner NY, CT and PA have offices that do them on the spot. (I have heard it is cheaper to do this.)

Fees for passports are:
Adults-67.00 and children 52.00.
Add $60.00 if expediting.
Post office fee is $30.00 to process and $15.00 if we do your photos.

And it is true certain countries will allow you to enter with proper id and proof of pending applications.

Have a great time on your trip. I hope this info is helpful to you.

Jenn
;-) ;-)
 
I'd like the answer to this question also. I'm planning a trip to Mexico as well. Someone in my office just went and after paying extra to expediate things he found out at the airport that he didn't need them afterall. ???
 
Sounds like a very unsecure southern USA border. Stunned that no passport or photo is required. Truly enlightening to a European citizen.
 
>Sounds like a very unsecure southern USA border. Stunned
>that no passport or photo is required. Truly enlightening to
>a European citizen.

I just got back form Europe. I traveled from Italy, to Belgium, to Holland, and back to Italy and only had to show a passport once -- when I first arrived in Italy. Once you arrive in Europe you can virtually travel all over without having to show a passport!
 
>>Michelle, how did you like Europa????

I love it!! We've been to Europe many times because my DH has several European colleagues. I know you're from Germany -- my DH travels there fairly frequently. He's fluent in the language and felt very proud when someone detected a Hessian accent. :)
 
Nancy's suggestion is right. Contact the cruise line. It just took me 12 weeks to get my passport renewed. DH paid the extra $100 and got his back in a couple weeks. Because there is such a demand for passports, there have been all kinds of changes made in dates and requirements.
 
Well, I called AAA today and here is what they said.

If you are traveling by ship to Mexico you don't need a passport. However, if you should need to fly out of Mexico for some reason,(emergency) you WILL need a passport. The girl I spoke with strongly suggested that passsports be obtained. Since there is such a backlog of passports right now,and many people have not gotten their passports that they applied for they are allowing people to get through(air travel) with copies of their passport applications.

My trip is not until Oct. I will obtain passports for the kids. The tough one is my 14 yr old as both parents have to be present or you need a notarized letter from the absent parent. I don't know about you gals, but getting DH and me off at the same time is a bit of a trick. I guess I'll need to find a notary!

Thanks for all the info.

Nancy, I think I will call the cruise line.
Phyllis http://www.smileyhut.com/silly/arrowhead.gif

http://www.picturetrail.com/pwmatt
 
Phyllis,
If I recall correctly, you and I are both in South Jersey. If you contact your local state legislator's office, there should be one or more employees who are notaries, and they do not charge a fee. When I worked for an assemblyman some years ago, we were all notaries and handled constituent documentation all the time.

On another note, isn't it weird that you need a passport to fly to/from Mexico but not to travel by ship? No wonder everyone is confused.

~Cathy :)
 
Hi Phyllis! You should get your passport paperwork going soon if you're going to apply. A colleague of mine and her family applied 13 weeks before their trip (she's in the Bahamas this week). At the time she sent in the applications, the passport website was saying it would take 8-10 weeks to process. She thought she had plenty of time. Less than a week before her trip she finally got all the passports. She had to get our local congressman to intervene on her behalf in order to get them at all. Understandably, she was really getting stressed towards the end!

One thing she was worried about was that if she was forced to go to Phila to get the passports issued same day, she wouldn't have birth certificates for her children as the birth certificates were with her original applications. She said if she had to do it over again, she would have gotten duplicate official birth certificates for her kids before sending them off in the mail - just in case. Luckily everything worked out for her and she didn't have to go that route.

I got a new passport in January and it only took 6 weeks. The backlog has gotten out of control in these last few months!
 
I'm a travel agent and this has been a real nightmare with all the passport delays, we have had people not getting their passports until the day before they leave. What a worry to think you will have to cancel your vacation.
Watch the goverment website for updates. It has been proposed to delay the passport requirement until June 2008. Sometimes it takes awhile before they update it.
If you have time to get a passport, it is still the recomended way to travel to another country.

Wendy
 
For Mexico: for the summer the US govt has suspended the requirement of passports due to the incredible backlog. HOWEVER, you do need proof that you have applied for the pp along with a govt id (drivers license, etc) So, apply for the passport and keep checking the website. You will be able to see the progress more or less. It takes a couple of weeks, though, for the info to show on the site even to be able to print it off (which is what you need to do) My DD applied for a renewal in March and only received hers last week.

I didn't check the links that others posted here so just in case:
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
 
I just got off the Carnival website - Thanks Nance! Here's the info.

The U.S. Government will soon require all of our guests (including U.S. citizens) to be in possession of a valid passport when traveling on any Carnival cruise. Foreign nationals should contact their respective governments to obtain further details. This requirement may become effective as early as January 1, 2008.

AIR TRAVEL

Effective January 23, 2007, passports will be required for air travel to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, The Bahamas and Bermuda. This is an important new requirement for our cruise guests traveling by air to embark or debark in Vancouver for our Alaska or Hawaii cruises. In addition, this new requirement will also impact our Canadian guests that travel by air to or from any of our U.S. embarkation ports.

Carnival strongly recommends that all guests travel with a valid passport during their cruise. This will enable guests to fly from the U.S. to meet their ship at the first port should they miss their scheduled embarkation; and allow guests that must debark the ship before their cruise ends to fly back to the U.S. without significant delays and complications. Additionally, it will greatly help to expedite their debark process.

So, I'm going to get them ASAP!
Yikes, too much stress already!
Phyllis http://www.smileyhut.com/silly/arrowhead.gif

http://www.picturetrail.com/pwmatt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top