Passport questions

[cruzluvin]

do you still need birth certificate if you have a passport for minors?

 

[minnie1012]

I submitted applications for my kids passports today and they said probably by the first week in March we would receive them. She said sometimes it can be as short as 3 1/2 weeks but that is rare. Make sure you have the proper birth certificate. I needed the long one (with your parents names) which I didn't have. So I had to order one for myself and my husband.

 

[huffjoann]

so you get the birth certs back?

 

[sayhello]

so you get the birth certs back?

Yes. They'll return them to you in a separate envelope.

Sayhello

 

[stitchlovestink]

If we don't have passports - but do have certified birth certificates and photo driver's licenses, can we get off the ship in the Bahamas?

Yes, you will only need your Driver's license (don't take your Birth cert w/ you when you get off of the ship in the Bahamas) and of course you KTTW card to reboard the ship

Yes you can get off the ship, however even though your passport is not required, should an emergency occur in the Bahamas and someone in your party needed to be flown back to the US, you would not be able to do so without a passport. We always pray for the best of circumstances, but as we are traveling with children, God forbid something happens to one of us, we would rather fly into the US then be stuck in a foreign hospital. Just some food for thought.

Well, I understand what you are saying to a point...but when I talked DIRECTLY to the passport office in Washington DC, they told me for a 3/4 night closed loop cruise where the only place they could fly you home from was the Bahamas.... don't waste my money on passports. If there was an emergency that required us to fly home, the embassy there was well equipped to handle those emergencies and could get us the paperwork we would need to fly home. I guess it's a gamble I'm willing to take at this point. You have to keep in mind too, if you are ill, the airline can refuse to allow you to fly if they feel it is too much of a risk. So you could still end up in that foreign hospital for a certain amount of treatment, KWIM??
Oh and BTW, when we returned to the US, two out of three times the customs agent didn't even ask to see our ID (birth cert/driver's license) at all!!! He just asked for our customs paper (I forget the formal name of the document) and said 'Welcome Back!!' I said "okay, that's it?" Each one Said, "Yep! Next, please."

 

[reimero]

We just got our passports. Total processing time was just under 2 weeks, and we did not pay for expedited. I have a hunch processing time may depend on which regional passport agency is handling things. The one hiccup we had was that they rejected my wife's photo. Fortunately, they had a photo facility on-site, so we were able to get that taken care of, and they gave us a form to give to the photographer explaining why the photo was rejected.

Sitting in the acceptance office with a number of other people waiting in line was a bit of an eye-opener, and gave me some more insight into how to make things go smoothly.

1. Check the passport requirements at travel.state.gov, and follow them to the letter. Make sure you have your driver's license or state ID, your embossed birth certificates with your parents' names, and any other documentation listed on the website.
2. Bring your checkbook. Many acceptance facilities do not accept credit cards.
3. Pay attention to the quality of your photo. If it does not meet their standards, they will reject it.
4. If you're under 18, you *must* have a parent present (with identification) to sign off on your application.
5. If you are under 18 and do not have a parent present, you must either provide legal proof of emancipation or your guardian must provide legal proof of guardianship, either of which must be in the form of a court order.

The passport acceptance facility cannot bend the rules, regardless of time constraints or circumstances. Yes, it can be frustrating, but remember that they're not there to make your life more difficult. They're there because they know quite well what the State Department will accept and what will get rejected, and they don't want to waste your time or theirs filing paperwork they know will get sent back.

 

[malacajo]

I know I won't be popular on this one, but we have decided not to get passports...really came down to $$. Passports and pictures for four of us would cost a total of $580...yikes. Yes I am nervous, but I guess we will take our chances....