ID for kids

[Bryn]

I've been looking all over the internet and can't find anywhere that tells me what kind of ID I'll need for the kids. In the past, I've never worried about it. A birth certificate was enough. But now I'm not so sure. Do they need their own passports? (2 yr old and 11 yr old)

Air Canada told me that they do not require photo id for under 16 yrs old traveling with parents.

What have all of you experienced in the last 2 months?

 

[MikeJ]

I went in to our local passport office yesterday and applied for passports for all four of us (our kids are 10 & 12). While I was talking to the woman behind the counter, she said she was surprised at the numbers of people they've seen in the past two months who have been getting passports just to cross into the US. So although you may still be able to get into the US using the usual birth certificate and driver's license, I thought it would just make things a lot cleaner to get passports. And the woman at the passport office agreed with me.

Take it for what it's worth (which in our case was $240, ouch! ).

- Mike

 

[c&m]

We were told at our PP office that our 2 DDs (ages 2 and 6) did not need their own passports yet, but they recommended that they should have their own passports. We decided to have their names on DH's and my passports. Last month in October, when we crossed the border to go to DL, we had no problems.

However, the PP office also told us that Canada is the only country these days that allow children to appear on their parents' passports. Other countries require children to hold their own passports. Come January (I forget the exact date), I was told that Canadian children would have to have their own passports. The cost would be lowered to $30 per child. It was what was told to me by a counter clerk. I haven't read anything about it, so I don't know if this is all going to be true or not.

You may want to validate this information at your local PP office.

 

[kellyla]

Thanks for that info.I have the applications for all of our passports(we like to border hop to go shopping)and I was just going to put the kids on ours.But if they give them one of their own for $30,I will wait until January to apply.

 

[blizzard]

We took the kids (9 & 12) down to Orlando at the end of September. We had passports and the kids had birth certificates. We had absolutely no problems with the airlines, security, or border crossing (US or Can). I wouldn't spend the money on passports unless you are planning on taking the kids somewhere other than the US.

Just my opinion of course, but based on experience.