Passport vs. Birth Certificate and ID

[mousebrat]

It's our understanding that you have to have either a passport or your birth certificate & id for certain stuff like registration. Does having the passport save you any time - i.e. enough time to justify the expense of acquiring one if you don't have any future plans to leave the country? (Though after going on our first Disney cruise, we may be doing it again sooner than we think! )

Is it a big deal if your birth certificate has your maiden name and your id has your married name? Is a marriage certificate required?

 

[Jestocost]

We cruised in November and experienced absolutely no additional delays as a result of using our birth certificates and drivers licenses. It's important to note that you will need an official birth certificate with a raised seal, not just a hospital certificate or photocopy. DW used a birth certificate with her maiden name and a license with her married name and had no problems.

 

[goingbacksoon]

While my girlfriend and I don't have that particular problem just yet, our passports seem to be less confusing to the folks than ID and birth certificate.

Someone had mentioned a similar thought before about passports being easier, and I'm inclined to agree from my own experiences. Ever since I got one, even at the airport it's just a quick glance. I don't know whether that's good or bad, but it happens nonetheless.

At the same time though, I didn't see anyone being denied boarding with what they had, and having a different maiden name is not an uncommon problem.

goingbacksoon

 

[MommaluvsDis]

We went on a Carnival cruise this past July and DH and I had no problems using our passports. I saw that the people with BC's were delayed and questioned a little. Even to the point that one immigration officer asked a little girl about 8 years old if she could verify her mother's birthdate! I don't even think my 16yo DS knows my birthday!!

I would only get a passport though if you think you will be going out of country more than once in the next 1o years, (5 for minor children). Otherwise, I don't think the few minutes delay is worth the expense. I did feel more assured of not having any boarding problems with it though. We did not get one for our DS since we had ours. We just used his BC with no delays or inquiries.

 

[prymsu]

we have passports that we use, but once on the ship I just use our photo ids along with our KTTW cards when getting on and off the ship, and lock the passports in the safe.

Just to be on the safe side when we travel, i also take along our birth certificates as well, but typically don't do this on cruises.

 

[MrsPete]

We zoomed right through with our birth certificates -- no problems whatsoever. I didn't pay any attention to other people at check-in or customs, but if passports move you through faster, then they must be simply glancing at the outside covers!

If you're traveling with only your own biological children and you have no plans to leave the US again soon, I'd say stick to the birth certificates.

 

[Hygiene99]

Users of The Birth Certificate....

We have been on 6 disney cruises and Several others
and have never had any problem with just using the birh certificate....wife has liscense and mariage certificate and we r al set ... peter

 

[Jestocost]

On our November cruise we were not questioned in any way using birth certificates and IDs. In fact, we were not even asked for ID of any kind by customs/immigration on our return. The woman took one quick look at our customs declaration form and that was it. It's certainly possible that they are being more thorough after the terror alert was raised to orange in December, but I couldn't say.

If we had passports we'd certainly use them, since it is more "official" and theoretically will allow you to move through the process more smoothly. However, there's absolutely no reason to go out and get passports just for a cruise.

 

[crisi]

Here are some considerations:

If you suspect you may be prone to some sort of security "profiling" (i.e. your last name is Al Fayed, you are not white, your name matches a name on someone's list someplace) you may find it easier to travel on a passport than a birth certificate.

If you are traveling with your own children who do not look like you....my son is Korean and a lot of parents of interracially adopted children have reported problems going in and out of customs.

If your birth certificate is not proof of US Citizenship. My sons is stamped "Not proof of US Citizenship." To prove he is entitled to reentry, we need a passport or his hard to replace Naturalization Certificate.

If your birth certificate is particularly unusual or funky. My husbands is a 40 year old piece of faded typewritten paper with no seal issued by the US State Department as he was born abroad to citizen parents. Once again, a little harder to replace than swinging through the county clerks office if we lose it. And, although I'm sure customs professionals have seen these things, they don't see them every day.

If having a passport meets your idea of cool. I've had one for years and I love having a passport even when I'm not traveling internationally. It is the ultimate in cool (and official) forms of ID!

 

[kcashner]

It makes absolutley no difference. It takes only a minute at registration. After that, you use your KTTW card and (if over 18) a photo ID. The only time they check the passport of BC is at registration. Just be sure that is it the real, legal birth certificate (with a raised seal or a holographic seal), NOT a "gift" birth certificate given by many hospitals. Only the one issued by the state counts.

 

[TootyJane]

We are a family of 5 and decided to get passports in 2002 before the price increase. No, we didn't need to get passports but figured in light of traveling in today's world it would be easier. One might not think they will be traveling much outside the USA but another reason for getting a passport is my mother travels abroad at least twice a year. If something should happen to her I would be the one to go. Having a passport would be one less thing for me to worry about. Also, mom is taking me on a 2-week cruise next month and guess what? Passports are now required when visiting Costa Rica. Sure glad I have it. HTH

 

[jlp651]

A guy I work with said that...and I have to believe him...at least I dont have to worry about loosing the 1 piece on info that says I'm a US citizen (I can be kind of forgetful sometimes)
just my 2 cents