I Don't NEED a Passport - I'm American!
Oct 15, 2012, 1:49 pm
#151
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I knew about passport and visa before I hit 12. What I did not understand was "exit visa".
Oct 15, 2012, 1:59 pm
#152
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Is there no "emergency passport" station at the major US airports? In Switzerland and Germany (Sorry, no other experience) the Kantonspolizei / Bundespolizei (Police station) do have a special "Notpassbüro" (Emergency passport office) in the airports where they can produce you a new emergency passport. It's not cheap (About 160$) and only valid for 1 year, so I'm sure they're actually making some money with it, kind of a win-win situation (You may be able to fly, the state gets some money)
The need for emergency passports is quite large in Norway. The local police is the issuer of all passports in Norway, so it is usually possible to get an emergency passport at the airport, but costing the same as an ordinary passport (around USD 100), and only valid for one journey. The snag is that it is hand-written, without biometric data, thus NOT valid for travel to the US:
Oct 15, 2012, 2:45 pm
#153
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That is not really a "right". It is based on some law passed by the Swedish or European parliament, which could be repealed at any time.
A "right" is something that cannot be taken away. If it is enshrined in a constitution or charter, I would call it a right. If it is simply due to an act of a legislature, then it is a privilege that the country can revoke by changing the law.
A "right" is something that cannot be taken away. If it is enshrined in a constitution or charter, I would call it a right. If it is simply due to an act of a legislature, then it is a privilege that the country can revoke by changing the law.
Oct 15, 2012, 2:49 pm
#155
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It depends upon the country and the circumstances applicable to the foreigner. A lot of countries -- including at least most (if not all) of the OECD countries -- have ways to regularize and/or admit people who present themselves at a port of entry even when the foreigers are without a passport but have a claim to some sort of right to entry. Issues around establishing identity do exist and resolving those takes different approaches. But having a passport -- even from the US and/or Canada -- is not always taken as proof of identity for all purposes in a foreign country. [This kind of situation gives rise to relative absurdities, including some situations of a foreign passport valid for entry not being accepted by itself as proof of identity in some other contexts of dealing with the very same host country government even as it is accepted as such by the same government in other contexts.] Having a passport, however, more often than not, facilitates matters more than it hinders matters. A sort of big exception to that is people with a claim to asylum/refugee status.
Oct 16, 2012, 9:29 am
#156
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You don't have to provide passport info at booking- just at check-in. If someone booked a trip a year in advance, there's plenty of time for them to get a passport before the trip, so I'm guessing that's why airlines don't require that info to buy a ticket.
Oct 16, 2012, 10:21 am
#157
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I Don't NEED a Passport - I'm American!
I can think of one person who doesn't travel with a passport: Queen Elizabeth II. British passports (and Commonwealth realm passports) are issued in her name, so she doesn't issue one in her own name to herself. 
Oct 16, 2012, 10:29 am
#158
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What about when she travels outside the Commonwealth? I guess the broader question is whether traveling heads of state actually carry passports in general... (For some reason, I just assumed they'd possess diplomatic passports even if they didn't need to physically show them to anyone.)
Oct 16, 2012, 10:58 am
#159
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What about when she travels outside the Commonwealth? I guess the broader question is whether traveling heads of state actually carry passports in general... (For some reason, I just assumed they'd possess diplomatic passports even if they didn't need to physically show them to anyone.)
Oct 16, 2012, 11:05 am
#160
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Originally Posted by US Passport
The Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby requests all whom it may concern to permit the citizen/national of the United States named herein to pass without delay or hindrance and in case of need to give all lawful aid and protection.
Say if Bill and Hillary went to a personal skiing trip up to Whistler, I'm sure Bill uses his own passport, but what about Hillary?
And if Hillary is say, visiting Japan to hold meetings with her Japanese counterpart for US-Japan related diplomatic talks, how does she enter Japan?
Last edited by kebosabi; Oct 16, 2012 at 11:12 am
Oct 16, 2012, 11:36 am
#161
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In the 90's I flew to Mexico City several times with nothing but my DL and birth certificate and my FMT was issued when I arrived. I don't know if Mexico requires a passport now, I just use it because I'll need it coming home anyway.
You can still walk into Mexico with basically nothing, it's getting back that requires a passport or passport card.
Oct 16, 2012, 11:42 am
#163
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In that light, does Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travel without an US Passport (for business or personal) as well? All US Passports are issued on behalf of the US Secretary of State:
So, if all US Passports are issued on behalf of the Secretary of State, the person sitting in that Cabinet position could therefore issue a passport to him/herself. As of today, that would mean Hillary issues her own US Passport.
Say if Bill and Hillary went to a personal skiing trip up to Whistler, I'm sure Bill uses his own passport, but what about Hillary?
And if Hillary is say, visiting Japan to hold meetings with her Japanese counterpart for US-Japan related diplomatic talks, how does she enter Japan?
So, if all US Passports are issued on behalf of the Secretary of State, the person sitting in that Cabinet position could therefore issue a passport to him/herself. As of today, that would mean Hillary issues her own US Passport.
Say if Bill and Hillary went to a personal skiing trip up to Whistler, I'm sure Bill uses his own passport, but what about Hillary?
And if Hillary is say, visiting Japan to hold meetings with her Japanese counterpart for US-Japan related diplomatic talks, how does she enter Japan?
Oct 16, 2012, 12:47 pm
#164
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US citizens and some others can still return to the US via land without a passport/passport card and be admitted at a US port of entry. Processing of such people entitled to be in the US will ordinarily take longer than if with a passport/passport card, but such people still are to be admitted to the US without a passport/passport card and are routinely admitted to the US.
Oct 16, 2012, 12:49 pm
#165
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When it says the Secretary of State, it may still refer to the Office rather than to the person in the position.
When it comes to the British Queen
http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Ro...passports.aspx
That doesn't mean she can and has never been issued a passport, it just means she ordinarily doesn't need one.
Many of them do. I have seen a variety of them for heads of state/government, elected or not.
When it comes to the British Queen
http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/Ro...passports.aspx
That doesn't mean she can and has never been issued a passport, it just means she ordinarily doesn't need one.
What about when she travels outside the Commonwealth? I guess the broader question is whether traveling heads of state actually carry passports in general... (For some reason, I just assumed they'd possess diplomatic passports even if they didn't need to physically show them to anyone.)
Last edited by GUWonder; Oct 16, 2012 at 1:05 pm