Do I need a passport?

[candyht]

We're sailing on the 12/19 Wonder and I'm trying to figure out if I need to get a new passport. My husband and kids have passports, but I think I might have lost mine. I have a copy of my Birth Certificate with the raised seal, so I'm wondering if this would be good enough along with my Driver's License.

 

[prymsu]

You won't have problems with your raised seal birth certificate and driver's license ID.

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

There have been lots of discussion on this topic lately - you might want to try a search and read what has been posted. Personally, I don't leave the US without my passport.

Deb

 

[Señor Ferrari]

If you have in fact lost your passport and you decide to get a new one before you trip. I would get started asap. Replacing a lost passport is a major hassle. My sister went through it a few years ago. If your passport is still valid, the State Department does not want it floating around out there. The view a lost US passport as a "serious situation."

My sister had to write a narrative explaining when the passport was last used, where it is likely to be, and everything she had done in order to recover it. This was in addition to the replacement fees. She then was issued a temporary passport, good for a year.

Of course, my sister is a bit of an airhead, and found her original passport about a month after she got the temporary one, but that's a different story....

Oh, and I agree with Deb, I don't leave the US without my passport, either.

 

[candyht]

This will be a second passport I've lost. My memory is really bad nowadays - I blame it on having twins. I know that the passport is somewhere in the house. I'll probably have to tear the house apart looking for it. When I replaced my first lost passport in April, I wasn't given a hard time about it, since it had already expired. I go to my local post office for passports. It's much easier for me to deal with.

 

[LarryC]

All you will need to do is file form DS-64 (Lost Passport Report) along with DS-11 (Passport Application). The State Department web site has the forms available for download.