Is there any benefit for having a passport card?
Jan 13, 2019, 4:01 pm
#76
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If doesn’t work as well as a passport with LEOs in some countries. Just some while back went through this with a couple of Italian police who asked some members of my party for ID and refused to accept anything but the passports. They accepted the photocopy of the passports of those who spoke American English but refused to accept the same of those who spoke Spanish and had accented English as a second language of the sort that isn’t so rare in parts of Mexico.
Jul 13, 2022, 11:52 am
#78
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As a purely practical matter Schengen agents don't seem to scrutinize US passports very hard. While I'm sure they have their watchlists to compare against airline manifests, even the time I flew into Schengen on a one way ticket no one raised any eyebrow or asked any questions (nevertheless I don't recommend doing that)
Yet I have heard so many problems of US passports entering the UK getting grilled on their intent to immigrate, seek work, or claim public benefits...
Yet I have heard so many problems of US passports entering the UK getting grilled on their intent to immigrate, seek work, or claim public benefits...
Jul 14, 2022, 1:50 am
#79
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Unfortunately the AMS agents scriutinized mine sufficient to determine that it was expired! I will address this experience in more detail in another thread, but would simply note here that I was eventually admitted with a valid US passport card. But this was done as a special exception after a call to the US embassy and completely at discretion of Dutch border control management.
Between your recently expired US passport, a valid US passport card (which they likely had never handled before except perhaps when suspecting a fraudulent document use), and the pretty timely help of the consulate/embassy, the Dutch passport control probably felt it wasn’t worthwhile to have you stuck in a holding facility waiting for days on end for the consular representative to come around to get your details, come back with a replacement document and then only to see you get cleared in or sent back while messing up the family vacation. They could have done it, but they decided not to do so.
Jul 18, 2022, 10:31 am
#80
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does not work on cruise ships only border countries. Can use if loose/stolen passport coming from Europe. If your state does not have the new id, can use it
Last edited by TWA884; Jul 18, 2022 at 10:52 am Reason: Fix BB code
Jul 18, 2022, 6:44 pm
#81
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correct. Also they are also quite handy if you have minor children traveling alone. My 15yr old was recently asked for ID when checking bags with WN. Also suffices for TSA though generally they don’t require children to show ID.
Jul 18, 2022, 8:54 pm
#82
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Jul 19, 2022, 2:27 am
#83
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It works on cruise ships if you are only going to, from, and through places that accept it (state.gov site), so not Europe. All the websites say that it's still a good idea to bring a passport book if you have it though.
Last edited by RexMundi; Jul 19, 2022 at 5:21 am Reason: CORRECTION
Jul 19, 2022, 3:33 am
#84
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You can use the passport card to reenter the United States at sea ports of entry from Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, and the Caribbean. However, if you are not able to return on the cruise ship for any reason (e.g., for an emergency evacuation, you will need a passport book to fly back to the United States.
Jul 19, 2022, 5:28 am
#85
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But you need a real passport to enter Caribbean countries other than Bermuda. And cruise ships: A valid passport is required for all international itineraries including Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand, Europe, India, Central and South America, Panama Canal (partial and full transit), Caribbean voyages that visit Martinique or Guadeloupe, South Pacific, Tahiti and World Cruises. Although US and Canadian passport holders are not currently required to sail with a passport on domestic itineraries (including Alaska, Bermuda, Canada, Caribbean, Hawaii, and Mexico),
Last edited by TWA884; Jul 19, 2022 at 9:20 am Reason: Fix BB code
Jul 19, 2022, 6:43 pm
#86
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Passport card vs. passport book: What documents do I need to cruise?
You can use a passport card as legitimate identification on your cruise if you’re sailing exclusively to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda or Caribbean countries. As you’ll be re-entering the U.S. through a seaport, the customs and immigration officials at the port will recognize your passport card as a valid travel document.
What's the Difference Between a Passport Book and Card?
The most important difference between U.S. passport books and passport cards is that passport cards are not valid for international air travel; they're only acceptable for land and sea border crossings between the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. You cannot use a passport card on cruises from international homeports. (These rules do not apply to cruises roundtrip from San Juan, Puerto Rico, as the island is a U.S. territory; a government-issued photo ID and copy of your birth certificate would suffice.)
Jul 20, 2022, 12:27 am
#87
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Airlines in Europe generally refuse to accept US passport cards to fly to the US even if the passport (book) is lost/stolen, so it generally cannot be used when coming from Europe. If a US citizen/national somehow arrives at the US port of entry without a US passport, then a passport card may be accepted as proof of identity and citizenship in much the same way as my regular old US state driving license could or even just reciting my passport number, SSN and name can.
Jul 20, 2022, 12:37 am
#88
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The US passport card does work on some international boat trips.
Airlines in Europe generally refuse to accept US passport cards to fly to the US even if the passport (book) is lost/stolen, so it generally cannot be used when coming from Europe. If a US citizen/national somehow arrives at the US port of entry without a US passport, then a passport card may be accepted as proof of identity and citizenship in much the same way as my regular old US state driving license could or even just reciting my passport number, SSN and name can.
Airlines in Europe generally refuse to accept US passport cards to fly to the US even if the passport (book) is lost/stolen, so it generally cannot be used when coming from Europe. If a US citizen/national somehow arrives at the US port of entry without a US passport, then a passport card may be accepted as proof of identity and citizenship in much the same way as my regular old US state driving license could or even just reciting my passport number, SSN and name can.
Jul 20, 2022, 12:43 am
#89
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I am pretty sure that at CDG still it would be the embassy-issued waiver/passport-replacing document and not the passport card that allowed the airline to board a passenger in such circumstances.
Jul 20, 2022, 12:52 am
#90
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You used the passport card to fly to the US, or did you really use a US embassy-issued emergency waiver notice that said your identity for travel to the US could be verified by whatever document type the consular personnel said they would allow the airline to accept?
I am pretty sure that at CDG still it would be the embassy-issued waiver/passport-replacing document and not the passport card that allowed the airline to board a passenger in such circumstances.
I am pretty sure that at CDG still it would be the embassy-issued waiver/passport-replacing document and not the passport card that allowed the airline to board a passenger in such circumstances.