Is A Passport Required
 

Is a passport required for travel to the Bahamas, Freeport in particular. I recall several years ago all that was necessary was a voters registration card and a photo ID such as a drivers license.

Thanks

TW

I will assume that you are a US citizen...?

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Entry Requirements: Visas are not required for U.S. citizens for stays up to eight months; however, U.S. citizens must carry proof of U.S. citizenship, photo identification, and an onward/return ticket. Voter registration cards are not accepted as proof of citizenship. For further information concerning entry requirements, U.S. citizens may contact the Embassy of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, 2220 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008, tel. (202) 319-2660 or The Bahamas consulate in Miami or New York.
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Some fun in the sun? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cool.gif

Always carry a passport.

During my four years as at the Canadian Consulate in New York, it never ceased to amaze me how many americans were resistant to obtaining and carrying a passport.

Technically it is not required for travel to Canada, Mexico, Bahamas, Bermuda, etc., but relying on alternative documentation is just inviting more difficulty than you need if problems arise.

1) You will always be examined more closely if you are not carrying a passport. Your birth certificate does not have your photo. If you are a naturalized US citizen (the only other acceptable proof of citizenship), the photo may well be out of date. So there will be more scrutiny of your driver's license (and potentially even a review to see if it is in the proper form, since Customs and Immigration officers generally keep up with some 400 types of travel documents, but not 50 types of driver's licenses).

2) You aren't likely to carry your passport on your person while at the beach--but you are likely to have your wallet, in which will be safely stowed your ID. So you lose your wallet, or it is lifted, and how do you prove who you are?

In this case it's not an issue of resistance to carrying a passport. It was the desire for a quick trip to Freeport and the inability to find her passport.

She has begun the process to have it replaced and will be looking forward to her quick trip in late December or early January now!

I read on the Bahamas site that they will accept a birth cert as a valid form of ID to enter the country. How does this prove your a US citizen upon re-entry? I could have been born here and renounced my citizenship!
I could not find what would be required to re-enter the United States other than a valid passport

TW

TW,

On a direct flight back from the Bahamas, a DL should work fine with the US INS. It is much the same as arriving from Canada.

However, I am certainly in AC*SE's camp when it comes to passports. They are the best form of ID for a US citizen abroad, and can be replaced by local embassies and consulates around the world if lost or stolen, unlike DL's.

You state that 'She has begun the process to have it replaced.' If she is still in the document-collecting phase, and has not yet applied for a new passport, she might want to consider going over to the nearest Passport Agency (such as the one in Miami assuming that is the closest agency), and paying a slight surcharge to get a passport issued in several within a day. That usually requires proof of an imminent overseas trip, such as tickets or airline-generated itinerary. She will still have to file a form for a lost passport.

I know that the Philadelphia Passport Agency does 3-hour turnarounds, but I'm not 100% sure about Miami. You can contact them at:

MIAMI Passport Agency
Claude Pepper Federal Office Building
51 SW First Avenue
3rd Floor
Miami, FL 33130-1680

Hours: 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., local time, M-F, excluding Federal holidays
Automated Appointment Number: (305) 539-3600

From the INS website Re: US entry:
www.ins.usdoj.gov/graphics/howdoi/legadmit.htm
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What Documents Must You Present?

A U.S. citizen must present a passport if traveling from outside of the western hemisphere (The western hemisphere is North, Central, and South America). If traveling from inside the Western Hemisphere, any proof of U.S. citizenship that clearly establishes identity and nationality is permitted such as a birth record or baptismal record.
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Be sure the birth certificate bears an official raised seal. Also accepted is a certified copy of the BC - carrying the seal previously mentioned.

With regard to your "what if" proposal about "subsequent citizenship rejection" (since issuance of your "hatchling document")... I don't know how to answer your question.

I can only assume that "whistles and bells" will go off...once your name is tippy toed across the INS computer key board...! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif



[This message has been edited by tvl4free (edited 11-13-2000).]

Thanks for all the comments.

She is not in a hurry at this point. She needs to get an official copy of her birth cert anyway.

Tvl4free:

What is a "hatchling document?"

TW

aka: a birth certificate http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif