U.S. Passport Card

[tazmancruiser]

What is the diference between a U.S. passport card and a passport. I have read the government documents and still not sure I what I read.

 

As a United States citizen can't I apply for a U.S. passport card and be allowed return to the U.S. by air should I encounter a medical problem on a cruise or have be flown back to the states from the caribbean.

 

What is the turn around time on recieving a U.S. passport card.

 

Thanks - for any inf. anyone can pass along.

[shelby_36]

I was researching this yesterday. It is cheaper than a passport. It can only be used for travel to Mexico, Canada, and the caribbean- I believe. No international travel. We are getting ready to buy 4 passports and considered this option but we do have hopes of going overseas someday and may be just wasting money if we go with the cards and have to get new ones. I think if you have no plans to travel overseas it would be a great option. And it is like a drivers license much easier to keep up with. Look at the passport website its all on there

[fleeflicker]

If you have a card you can only entry by land or sea. In order to return by air you must have a full passport. If you have an emergency and only have a card then you will be out of luck. It is recommended by most to go ahead and get the full passport if you plan on cruising.

[Richiebaseball]

A passport card can be used for land and sea travel from Mexico, Canada, the Caribbean, and Bermuda however no international air travel. So the answer to your question is no, you can't use a passport card to fly back to the US in case of an emergency.

 

Here's a pretty decent site for more info http://www.getyouhome.gov/

[Coralc]

We purchased passport cards for $20 (each) when we renewed our passports. They're not good for flights to or from Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. They would have been perfect for the short Mexico cruises that we used to have from So. Calif.

 

They might work for emergency flights from Mexico, Canada, Caribbean. Who knows? We haven't been in that situation. They are allowed for cruises. I guess it would be like the announcements...."If this had been a real emergency" :)

[cherylandtk]

A little background might help here:

 

The WHTI (the rule that has been causing such confusion ever since it was first announced back in 2004) originally was to require a passport to cross any border, period. The air portion became effective in 2007, and yes, you must have a full passport to cross any air border.

 

After multiple modifications and delays, the land and sea portion will go into effect June 1 and everyone will need a 'WHTI document' to cross land and sea borders as of June 1. Because so many people cross land borders on a daily basis, and there was so much uproar over the cost of the new requirements, the passport card was produced as a lower-cost alternative for those folks. It can also be used for sea borders, and on a cruise, but it won't work for air borders.

 

Additionally, US citizens on a RT cruise can continue to use BC/DL as their WHTI document, but again, that won't get anyone home by air or across a land border or even across a sea border unless on a RT cruise ship.

 

The old rules of being able to declare your US citizenship at the border and being allowed in went away in 2008. You now have to be able to prove it with a document on an approved list.

[Aubiecruiser]

This is just my opinion, but the new passport card is about as useful as (you know what) on a boar. If it's not good for air travel, or outside our little corner of the world, why waste the money for one?

Aubie

[Spring Valley]

We used our passport cards on our cruise last month as you need to bring your seapass and one form of ID with you onshore, so the passport card worked well as a form of ID as it is easier to carry than your full passport, and the fact that it is more widely recognized then a drivers license that is different from every state. We got ours when we renewed our passports, so it was only $20 more to get it, so I felt it was worth it to have a second form of ID so we wouldn't have to be carrying around our passorts and having a chance of losing it.

 

We live by the Canadian border, so it also made sense to have one if we drove into Canada.

 

Keith