Passport hasn't arrived--can we stay on the ship instead of disembarking?

[Charles4515]

32 minutes ago, moondoggie said:

We called Vital Check, and were told it would be another 7 months or more to get a Birth Certificate!

 

He is going to need the birth certificate to embark if the passport is not issued. The other documents you mention won't work. You said trying since 2022. Something must be missing. Hopefully the senator will faciliate in time. Hard to imagine why it would take 7 months to get a birth certificate. What state was it issued in?  

Edited April 6, 2023 by Charles4515

[Ferry_Watcher]

Do you have a photocopy of his birth certificate?

The reason I ask is when we have passengers show up for their Alaska cruise without proof of citizenship, if they are American born, we ask if they can contact someone at home to find their birth certificate and send an electronic picture to the pier, where we print it out (and assuming that it matches the name / birth date on their photo ID).  So, we will accept a photocopy of the birth certificate.  While we do this in Seattle, I can not speak for what they do at whatever port you are sailing from.

 

At this point I would be trying to get a copy of his birth certificate.  Could he either go in person, or call directly, and explain the urgent need of needing it ASAP? 

Barring that, if you have a photocopy of his birth certificate, his old passport, and his current gov't issued ID (DL), it probably would be worth it to bring those items to the pier, and hope that they will accept them.  Your cruise date might be close enough that you might only get a fraction of your fare back, so you may have nothing to lose by showing up at the pier (if you have a photocopy of the US gov't issued  birth certificate, the old passport, and current river's license).

 

Let's hope that the new passport shows up.  Keep us posted.

[Essiesmom]

Did he have to send the long expired passport in with the renewal, or does it still exist?  EM

[cruisegal40]

Can you have the copy of the birth cert notarized by a notary?  Not sure if that would work?

 

[GeezerCouple]

8 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

Can you have the copy of the birth cert notarized by a notary?  Not sure if that would work?

 

 

What would that accomplish?

 

The notary would certify... what... that "This is the piece of paper put in front of me today"?

 

How would they authenticate anything?

(It could have been created and printed at home half an hour earlier.)

 

GC

[sparks1093]

46 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

Can you have the copy of the birth cert notarized by a notary?  Not sure if that would work?

 

The copy by itself is sufficient.

[mammajamma2013]

6 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Is there a copy of his birth certificate on file somewhere that you can get, or did you keep a copy when you sent off for the passport? I would also try to call the issuing authority, maybe they can provide it sooner than vital check can since vital check is just a middle man.

NM will issue you an official copy within two weeks if you go through the state office. So yes, I would say it's likely OP would get it much sooner.

[cruisegal40]

2 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

The copy by itself is sufficient.

I was under the impression there needs to be a raised seal?  I am a notary and have done the before, but obviously things may have changed.

[Essiesmom]

13 minutes ago, cruisegal40 said:

I was under the impression there needs to be a raised seal?  I am a notary and have done the before, but obviously things may have changed.

Many states no longer use a raised seal, sometimes a watermark.  EM

[cruisegal40]

7 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Many states no longer use a raised seal, sometimes a watermark.  EM

This is true. Hence the "things may have changed".  Former paralegal here and out of the biz for a bit. Thanks for the clarification. 

[GeezerCouple]

1 hour ago, cruisegal40 said:

I was under the impression there needs to be a raised seal?  I am a notary and have done the before, but obviously things may have changed.

 

Not all states use raised seals.

 

GC

[Essiesmom]

Some years ago there was a state or two that were issuing birth certificates the size of a credit card/drivers license.  I think it was one of the Carolinas.  EM

 Correction:  Iowa issued them from 1993-2009 but required them to be replaced because they were essentially short form and the State Dept. wouldn’t accept them.  

Edited April 7, 2023 by Essiesmom

[Elaine5715]

On 4/5/2023 at 5:59 PM, moondoggie said:

We've been trying since 2022 to get a new passport for my partner--his expired in 1998 and he hasn't needed one since.  So now we have our Senator trying to help us since we have a May cruise booked.

Someone suggested that a Passport wasn't required if we weren't planning to get off the ship at an international port.  The ports on this cruise are St Thomas (US Virgin Islands),  Princess Cay, and St Maartin (Dutch and French).  

We would be glad to stay on board in St Maartin.

Can we cruise and just get off at STT and Princess Cay?

Please advise--thank you!

 

Vital Chek has an expediated option.  Just costs more.

https://www.vitalchek.com/v/

[sparks1093]

11 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

I was under the impression there needs to be a raised seal?  I am a notary and have done the before, but obviously things may have changed.

The regulations simply require "the original or a copy", nothing more, nothing less and the copy is a plain old photocopy. Bringing the original might be best but a photocopy will work. 

9 hours ago, Essiesmom said:

Some years ago there was a state or two that were issuing birth certificates the size of a credit card/drivers license.  I think it was one of the Carolinas.  EM

 Correction:  Iowa issued them from 1993-2009 but required them to be replaced because they were essentially short form and the State Dept. wouldn’t accept them.  

The State Department won't accept them for issuing a passport but they are still valid for use on a closed loop cruise, which only requires a government issued birth certificate attesting to birth in a state or territory (Puerto Rico certificates need to be issued after a certain date, one must look it up, because that territory passed legislation invalidating all certificates issued before that date due to rampant fraud).

 

Over the years questions have come up regarding these credit card sized ones, short form, long forms, and even hand written ones and all have been accepted as reported by the questioner.

[sparks1093]

6 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Vital Chek has an expediated option.  Just costs more.

https://www.vitalchek.com/v/

Yes they do, but personally I would still check with the issuing authority to see how long that would take. I know here in Vermont if I go to the original town clerk's office where the birth was registered I can walk out with a copy that day (I'm not sure how long it would take to get a copy from the state itself).

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

Yes they do, but personally I would still check with the issuing authority to see how long that would take. I know here in Vermont if I go to the original town clerk's office where the birth was registered I can walk out with a copy that day (I'm not sure how long it would take to get a copy from the state itself).

I was able to order for someone from the state with 48 hours  mailing instead of the county office.  

[ldubs]

On 4/5/2023 at 2:59 PM, moondoggie said:

We've been trying since 2022 to get a new passport for my partner--his expired in 1998 and he hasn't needed one since.  So now we have our Senator trying to help us since we have a May cruise booked.

Someone suggested that a Passport wasn't required if we weren't planning to get off the ship at an international port.  The ports on this cruise are St Thomas (US Virgin Islands),  Princess Cay, and St Maartin (Dutch and French).  

We would be glad to stay on board in St Maartin.

Can we cruise and just get off at STT and Princess Cay?

Please advise--thank you!

 

 

Kind of interesting. My congressman recently sent an email blast to his constituents about contacting his office for short deadline passport needs.   

 

 

[capriccio]

OP - contact your member of the House of Representatives’s constituent services office in your district and/or in Washington, DC.  Senators can have tens of millions of constituents depending on the population of your state.  Members of the House have less than one million.  

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

Kind of interesting. My congressman recently sent an email blast to his constituents about contacting his office for short deadline passport needs.   

 

 

Some representatives are better at constituent relations than others.