US passports to travel back are obligatory starting today

[sailornyanko]

Anyone planning on making a trip outside by plane but doesn't have their passport? Apparently cruises and travel by car will still have one more year to be allowed back in if you show other US documents, but a passport is now obligatory if you travel by plane.

Not a problem for me of course because I issued my passport back in 2001 and it will be still good till 2011; but I've heard relatively few americans have ever issued a passport and that it's relatively problematic to issue one in the US in the first place.

Anyone going to can their visit to Cancun in Spring Break because of this? I'm personally curious how this will directly affect mexican tourism because a lot of tourists will go to Hawaii and Puerto Rico instead.

I personally wouldn't like to be in the US embassy today; it must be crammed with dumb tourists that didn't hear of the measure and now can't come back to the states because they didn't plan ahead.

[The Million Dollar Prons]

What's so bad about getting a passport?

[Lemina]

I drive to Mexico at least 2 to 4 times a year to visit family, mainly when I have free time, so it's going to be a problem for me if I don't get a passport now. Going to Mexico is easy, but coming back is going to be another story. <_<

[Suiko Eiji]

What's so bad about getting a passport?

Yeah, I'm with you on this.

but I've heard relatively few americans have ever issued a passport and that it's relatively problematic to issue one in the US in the first place.

Half true. Most American's don't have or need passports. However, while a large number of people travel in the US, it is also within the US. Our georgraphical borders are so large that an individual can travel thousands upon thousands of miles and never leave the country. Because of Full Faith And Credit between the States, any State-approved documents count as your passport, should you have to provide documentation. My mom, forinstance, is in her fifties and never had one. She's traveled outside the US only a handful of times, all of which to Canada to visit family. They all took birth records with them in case they had to prove nationality.

Where the truth stops is that it's problematic to issue a passport in the US. It's not. You fill in a form, have your picture taken, mail it to the "local" passport office for processing, and then wait for them to mail it to you. Now, with the law changing that all returning passengers will need passports, you'll probably want to make sure you leave plenty of time in your schedule. It's just part of planning a trip and there's no reason for you not to be responsible.

Perhaps there might be some loss in tourism to a place like Cancun or Cozumel because of the passport "restrictions" in a year or two, but I don't think that overall people will avoid those places because they need a passport. Once people are used to operating in the new system, then tourism will probably pick right back up to the levels before passports were required.

[Daishikaze]

Also with the right forms, you can get a passport quite fast, I got mine within 2 days because I had the proper forms that sped up the process (I had to leave that week, so I needed it fast)

[Kevin]

The government has become quite strict when it comes to issuing passports, and you may be surprised to find that obtaining one could possibly become a months long headache. I myself simply changed the address on my drivers liscence twice in 1 year and that has me red flagged in the State Departments computer as being a possible risk of some sort. I was asked to submit more forms of ID which I did immediately, 11 of them in fact. I was then contacted again and told to send in even more forms of over 5 years of age showing both a picture and signature. I have sent those and now await the verdict. It has been 6 months since I first applied. Will it be easier for someone else, probably, but you never know what simple thing may cause problems.

[HSaabedra]

Guess I better pull out all my records if I want a passport by the end of the year. Sorry about your experience, Kevin. Hopefully the flags been cleared.

[Sendo Takeshi]

Isn't this passport thing supposed to apply to inter-state travel as well? Or maybe I'm not reading into this correctly? Just wanted to know.

[sailornyanko]

Isn't this passport thing supposed to apply to inter-state travel as well? Or maybe I'm not reading into this correctly? Just wanted to know.

That's kind of silly. Why need a passport to travel INSIDE of the same country. Maybe I'm not familiar enough with US law, but mexican law clearly states that you have the right to travel throught the entire official territory of the country with the right of NOT showing proof of your citizenship to any cop or anybody. Maybe a tourist could bring the passport along though I don't see why would any average joe care. Passports are supposed to be needed when you enter and leave a country, not for going to a tourist trap.

Interstate travel eeh? Reminds me of a stupid California law that requires you to change your valid US drivers liscense to the CA state 3 months after you move to that state. Just that how do you prove to a cop that stops you that you moved in 3 months ago or only 2 days ago? Silly laws.

--

You get your passport sent by mail eeh? I got mine at the embassy which is relatively fast and easy: Go there, show birth certificate, fill a form, pay cash. Come back tomorrow and pick it up.

Now the real fudge came (personal bad experience) when I wanted to renew my mexican passport. Ugh, what a pain in the rear that was: infested with people because it was Spring break season, rude tellers saying they don't want to renew because my old passport didn't have my second last name on it because my american documents don't have it. Got my voting card processed (which had my two last names because the guys at the IFE aren't jerks) and they decided to make my new passport with two last names. Oh, and it lost 3 days of school before exams and had to wait on line 3 hours each time. I show you any school document with my second last name, my mom is right there with her passport to prove what my second last name is, HOW DAMN HARD IS IT TO TYPE A SECOND LAST NAME ON THE DAMN PC??!! Damn jerk boureaucrats.
Sadly my mexican passport has just expired so I will have to renew it sometime (if I ever have the time now that school started) if I want to visit the US this summer. I hope I don't get the fudge again. Funny since everyone I know that went for their passport got it in 30 minutes. Lucky bastards.

Kevin, you're not alone (though I wasn't flagged or anything).

[Suiko Eiji]

Isn't this passport thing supposed to apply to inter-state travel as well? Or maybe I'm not reading into this correctly? Just wanted to know.

There's a part of me that can understnad... but I'm quite sure that's not the case.

You get your passport sent by mail eeh?

I did for my first issuance. Several classifications of government agencies (mine was done via a post office in my county) can handle the filings of the paperwork between the office that actually issues the documents and that office mails them out. Complicated beuracracy but that's the Federal Govenrment. All the American nationals whom have passports I've spoken with have done something similar.

Now, I've had friends who weren't American Nationals who've had to pay visits to their local consulates here in Atlanta to have their respective passports re-newed. I think even they had theirs mailed to them but I'd have to doublecheck.

When you went to the embassy to get yours, did you go to a Mexican embassy or consulate here in the US or what this while living in/around the DF in Mexico?

[Sendo Takeshi]

Hmmm.....maybe it's not true after all. I'll have to find out more or something. I just asked because people were hyping it up all over the news at one point. And you know, I don't have a passport and such. =/

I just remember hearing about it.

[Dorktron2000]

Where the truth stops is that it's problematic to issue a passport in the US. It's not. You fill in a form, have your picture taken, mail it to the "local" passport office for processing, and then wait for them to mail it to you. Now, with the law changing that all returning passengers will need passports, you'll probably want to make sure you leave plenty of time in your schedule. It's just part of planning a trip and there's no reason for you not to be responsible.

You can only mail it in if you are renewing your passport. First time applicants need to apply in person at a federal building; back in Pennsylvania I remember being pulled out of class on a weekday to drive forty minutes to the county courthouse. Also you need a valid form of identifying U.S. citizenship (driver's licenses are not valid proof); so you have to dig up something like a birth certificate.

Personal experience has told me to expect up to a month for delivery, and I would expect it to take longer since more people are probably applying for one.

[Haro!]

Sh*t that just reminded me that I forgot to renew my passport. Not sure when I'll need it but I might want to travel soon.

[sailornyanko]

When you went to the embassy to get yours, did you go to a Mexican embassy or consulate here in the US or what this while living in/around the DF in Mexico?

Well, I was born in the US, but moved to Mexico City when I was 9 (with the exception of going to Canada twice for very short trips, this was the first time I was leaving the country), I got my mexican passport and birth certificate made at the Mexican embassy in Chicago.
Sadly the idiots screwed things up and made the mistake of not adding my second last name in my documents. They put the last name on the documents of one of my sisters, but made a typo in my sister's first name. Real idiots.

My "legal" problem of maybe I do maybe I don't have a second last name will now cost me at least 2000 dollars to fix. Meanwhile I'll still have to suffer every now and then when I issue documents. ¬¬

Now in Mexico, I issue my mexican passport renewals at this federal building that issues all sorts of legal documents in just one building. Apparently there's three such buildings in the city, and by sheer luck the one I'm assigned to go to is just 15 minutes walking distance from my house (seems like everything is close to where I live, not bad considering the traffic you find everywhere ^^'). I got my voting card in that very place and the people that work in the IFE are always very polite.

I think you have to pay parking tickets and liscense plate renewals in that same building.

[Old Ape Face]

The government has become quite strict when it comes to issuing passports, and you may be surprised to find that obtaining one could possibly become a months long headache. I myself simply changed the address on my drivers liscence twice in 1 year and that has me red flagged in the State Departments computer as being a possible risk of some sort. I was asked to submit more forms of ID which I did immediately, 11 of them in fact. I was then contacted again and told to send in even more forms of over 5 years of age showing both a picture and signature. I have sent those and now await the verdict. It has been 6 months since I first applied. Will it be easier for someone else, probably, but you never know what simple thing may cause problems.

I think it has a lot to do with nationality, I'm somewhat of a polock (aka Polish originated) American, and there are a lol of people who look like me the "ordinary" white boy from the country.

[Nano]

So you didn't have to show any proof of I'D to travel imside the states before this? If that's the case wouldn't it mean people such as a ilegal imagrant could travel anywhere within the states without proof of Identity?

[sailornyanko]

So you didn't have to show any proof of I'D to travel imside the states before this? If that's the case wouldn't it mean people such as a ilegal imagrant could travel anywhere within the states without proof of Identity?

Once you get into the country, it's pretty unlikely you're gonna be walking down the street and a bunch of feds pop up with guns pointing at you demanding you to show them your passport.

The US has enough racial tension as it is, profiling random people on the street based on race would cause so much of a social outrage that well... I think even Bushy knows what could happen there.

It would be different if you're like driving a car and a cop randomly stops you and asks for your driver's liscense. Some illegals that live in LA still got away with a law that gave them a chance to get a valid drivers liscense but most illegals don't have any legitimate US documents unless they stole someone's identity (which is one of the reasons why american companies that hire illegals aren't completely at fault, there's no infrastructure to easily check if a possible employee is really this person).

Though this isn't technically a thread about immigration or anything.

[Suiko Eiji]

So you didn't have to show any proof of I'D to travel imside the states before this? If that's the case wouldn't it mean people such as a ilegal imagrant could travel anywhere within the states without proof of Identity?

Crossing National borders between the US and Canada or US and Mexico, at official crossings, you have to show IDs. Interstate (such as from California to Oregon or Georgia to Tennesee) does not require the showing of IDs.

And I agree with Nyanko, this shouldn't become a thread about Immigration, legal or illegal.