Identification Question

Dpell

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
My mother, myself and my two daughters (10 and 6) are tenativley planning a 4 night cruise for January 13th. None of us have passports and it is my understanding that they will not be required at that time, a birth certificate and valid photo ID would be acceptable. My problem arises with my girls, all I have for them is a birth certificate.... What do they do in the case of children ID requirements?

I know the solution is to get a passport however due to joint custody I have to have their father sign for the passport and I have no idea how to locate him so there is no way we would be able to get them in time... Any help is appreciated!
 
My mother, myself and my two daughters (10 and 6) are tenativley planning a 4 night cruise for January 13th. None of us have passports and it is my understanding that they will not be required at that time, a birth certificate and valid photo ID would be acceptable. My problem arises with my girls, all I have for them is a birth certificate.... What do they do in the case of children ID requirements?

I know the solution is to get a passport however due to joint custody I have to have their father sign for the passport and I have no idea how to locate him so there is no way we would be able to get them in time... Any help is appreciated!

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I believe the passport date is 1/1/2008 as of right now. If you do not need a passport all they will need is the Birth Certifcates. Adults need a photo ID.

You might want to check with a passport office and see what the options are if you are unable to locate the father to sign for the passports. Good Luck either way.
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I believe the passport date is 1/1/2008 as of right now.

The deadline has been extended to the summer. While DCL is encouraging passports they are not required. Keep in mind in case of emergency, flying home will not be an option without a passport.
 
My mother, myself and my two daughters (10 and 6) are tenativley planning a 4 night cruise for January 13th. None of us have passports and it is my understanding that they will not be required at that time, a birth certificate and valid photo ID would be acceptable. My problem arises with my girls, all I have for them is a birth certificate.... What do they do in the case of children ID requirements?

I know the solution is to get a passport however due to joint custody I have to have their father sign for the passport and I have no idea how to locate him so there is no way we would be able to get them in time... Any help is appreciated!

Just curious if you don't know where their dad is living, why not petition the court for full legal custody and explain the situation about the passports to the court??
 


To be honest it has never been an issue regarding custody until now... I would be worried that the situation would no be resolved through the courts by January, nevermind the processing of the passport.
 
I don't want to be a party pooper. However, a friend who wanted to cruise with us on our January cruise but cannot get a passport for her son (long story, but he was adopted from Russia, relinquished and then readopted and doesn't have the appropriate documents to prove US citizenship at this time using his new second adoptive name.) My friend called Disney cruiseline this past Monday and was told everybody HAS to have a passport as of January 1st. I have been checking out this passport situation because of my friend's son's passport issues and in my reading (on cruisecritic.com and other sites,) the cruiselines have the authority to require passports regardless of what Homeland Security says. Seems unbelievable to me, but I read that several cruiselines are still requiring passports as of January 1st.

To be safe, before spending all that money on the cruise, call the cruiseline and see what they say. It's best to get the word from Disney rather than from us (we here on disboards are all very knowledgable, I'm sure, but we're not the final authority.) I hope for your sake that passports will not be required.
 


I don't want to be a party pooper. However, a friend who wanted to cruise with us on our January cruise but cannot get a passport for her son (long story, but he was adopted from Russia, relinquished and then readopted and doesn't have the appropriate documents to prove US citizenship at this time using his new second adoptive name.) My friend called Disney cruiseline this past Monday and was told everybody HAS to have a passport as of January 1st. I have been checking out this passport situation because of my friend's son's passport issues and in my reading (on cruisecritic.com and other sites,) the cruiselines have the authority to require passports regardless of what Homeland Security says. Seems unbelievable to me, but I read that several cruiselines are still requiring passports as of January 1st.

To be safe, before spending all that money on the cruise, call the cruiseline and see what they say. It's best to get the word from Disney rather than from us (we here on disboards are all very knowledgable, I'm sure, but we're not the final authority.) I hope for your sake that passports will not be required.


Your friends situation sounds like a very different scenario from the OP. While Disney is "highly recommending" and "strongly urging" people to obtain passports (think worse case scenario, since you can't fly back into the US without one) they are not requiring them. I do have this in writing from DCL.
 
I wish they'd get their stories straight when you call Disney cruiselines because they told my friend unequivocally, no passport, no cruise. She did not get into the whole Russian adoption thing -- she merely asked if they would be allowed to cruise without a passport. They were told absolutely not. How did you get this in writing? Is it somewhere I can find online or was it a personal letter from Disney? My friend and family were SO disappointed not to be able to go (we're cruising with a whole group of families with children adopted from Russia, a total of 24 people and we're all very disappointed they aren't going.) It's not too late to have them go (final payment is October 29th.) Any tips you can give me will help -- my friend is not on disboards. Thanks!
 
I too was told this past week that we had to have passports for Jan 08 cruise. We are planning on spending $180 expedition fee because of this.
Wish I knew for sure if we had to have them; if not, I would take a chance on getting them regular method, but I am afraid to take the chance if I have to have them by waiting 10 or so weeks.
 
This is from the US Dept of State site http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

LAND AND SEA TRAVEL
The following summarizes information available on the Department of Homeland Security’s website.


JANUARY 31, 2008
U.S. and Canadian citizens will need to present either a WHTI-compliant document, or a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, plus proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate. DHS also proposes to begin alternative procedures for U.S. and Canadian children at that time.


SUMMER 2008
At a later date, to be determined, the departments will implement the full requirements of the land and sea phase of WHTI. The proposed rules require most U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry to have either a U.S. passport; a U.S. passport card; a trusted traveler card such as NEXUS, FAST, or SENTRI; a valid Merchant Mariner Document (MMD) when traveling in conjunction with official maritime business; or a valid U.S. Military identification card when traveling on official orders.

The implementation date will be determined based on a number of factors, including the progress of actions undertaken by the Department of Homeland Security to implement the WHTI requirements and the availability of WHTI compliant documents on both sides of the border.
DHS and DOS expect the date of full WHTI implementation to be in the summer of 2008. The precise implementation date will be formally announced with at least 60 days notice.


My 11 yr nephew traveled on just his birth certificate, no photo ID. I also took my custody papers but were never asked for, we didn't have a bit of trouble.
 
I too was told this past week that we had to have passports for Jan 08 cruise. We are planning on spending $180 expedition fee because of this.
Wish I knew for sure if we had to have them; if not, I would take a chance on getting them regular method, but I am afraid to take the chance if I have to have them by waiting 10 or so weeks.

If its any help, I think the state dept. has gotten very caught up. I think they hired additional help and also now that summer's over, there's not so much of a vacation crunch. I am in Maryland and we applied for our passports (new ones for one adult and two kids) in early October and got them in just two weeks without being rushed! So, if you need them for January, you may not need to expedite them.
 
Wonder if this is a Disney requirement. Since the government WILL eventually require the Passports, I wonder if Disney just decided to make it their requirement.
I know NCL America required passports in June when we cruised...which is funny, because it was a cruise around Hawaii with no foreign ports. I asked and they said it was their own requirement, in an effort to improve security.
 
Wonder if this is a Disney requirement. Since the government WILL eventually require the Passports, I wonder if Disney just decided to make it their requirement.
I know NCL America required passports in June when we cruised...which is funny, because it was a cruise around Hawaii with no foreign ports. I asked and they said it was their own requirement, in an effort to improve security.
I just called Disney guest services and spoke with Marty. She confirmed that summer 2008 is the tenative date foe passport requirements and that they WILL NOT be needed for cruises up until then. She of course "strongly urged" passengers to get them in the event of an emergency but they will not be required to board the ship. Hope this helps.
 
This is not a unique situation - and the passport consent form has a section for special circumstances - you must fill in the reasons that you are unable to provide the signature of the other natural parent and swear before a notary that all information is true -
you should be able to get it processed as long as you are able to show due diligence in obtaining the signature.
We got our passports back without expediting them in less than 3 weeks - the
 
This is not a unique situation - and the passport consent form has a section for special circumstances - you must fill in the reasons that you are unable to provide the signature of the other natural parent and swear before a notary that all information is true -
you should be able to get it processed as long as you are able to show due diligence in obtaining the signature.



Just a word of caution, from a single parent who has been there... You will HAVE to have the absent parent notarize the form, no ifs ands or buts. That part on the form about explaining why you can't reach the other parent is only there (as I was told by the State Dept.) for parents who are in the military and serving overseas. When I asked, "What if the other parent is in jail in another state or something?" They said that I would be required to travel to that state, form in hand, go to the jail, and get him to notarize the form.

It took me over a year to finally get my ex to notarize that dang form, but I FINALLY got DS's passport. And luckily, by the time it's up for renewal, he'll be past the age where both parents need to sign for it.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade... I just want you to be aware that you will absolutely have to have that form signed and notarized by the absent parent, or they will not grant a passport. :( The ONLY other document you can produce to get that passport would be your ex's death certificate (and believe me, that would have been preferable to me in our case!)
 
Just a word of caution, from a single parent who has been there... You will HAVE to have the absent parent notarize the form, no ifs ands or buts. That part on the form about explaining why you can't reach the other parent is only there (as I was told by the State Dept.) for parents who are in the military and serving overseas. When I asked, "What if the other parent is in jail in another state or something?" They said that I would be required to travel to that state, form in hand, go to the jail, and get him to notarize the form.

It took me over a year to finally get my ex to notarize that dang form, but I FINALLY got DS's passport. And luckily, by the time it's up for renewal, he'll be past the age where both parents need to sign for it.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade... I just want you to be aware that you will absolutely have to have that form signed and notarized by the absent parent, or they will not grant a passport. :( The ONLY other document you can produce to get that passport would be your ex's death certificate (and believe me, that would have been preferable to me in our case!)
Thanks for the info. I figured it couldn't be that easy! I have given up on trying to obtain a passport for her by the 1/13 date. My hope lies with one not being required. I called Disney today and asked and they said it wouldn't be. I in turn sent an email request for this in writing and am waiting to hear back. Once I have it in writing I feel secure booking the trip as it is definitley not a federal requirement, just DCL. I am going to get myself a passport and bring my daughter's BC with the document from DCL stating one is not necessary and hope for the best. I am glad verything worked out for you in the long run!
 
Just a quick question about the OP's situation. Since the parents have joint custody, doesn't the OP need "permission" from the ex-spouse to take the children out of the country?
 

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