I would also be very interested in this answer. I let our passports expire and my travel agent told me to take our birth certificates just in case....I would rather not!

Thanks!

Hi Luvs,

Again, I am not an expert on this at all and have never been through it. What I can tell you again is I just spoke directly with the U.S. Department of State and that is that they told me for BOTH directions when flying. Here is their phone number if anyone else wants to confirm, along with the government web site link for the contact page: 1-877-487-2778

Web site: http://travel.state.gov/passport/npic/npic_898.html

Then after talking to American Airlines they confirmed it. Either way after talking to both directly I'm going to try it out on my first visit in a few months 🙂 But I will most like have the birth certificate around just to be safe.

Am I missing something here? A cruise is different from a direct flight, because you will be going outside the US on a Caribbean cruise, so you need a passport. Try buying something in the Land stores. They check your passport, want to know your returning flight number, etc, because locals can't buy duty free.

If you're a traveler, it's a good idea to have a valid passport. Increases your options.

Hi ms411,

That is something new to me I did not know about, so good info! If you could elaborate more on the duty free stuff that would be great! 🙂

I guess my main point was I hear and read all over that you "MUST" have a passport or a valid US drivers license/I.D. IN ADDITION TO a raised seal birth certificate when flying to and from the USVI. So other than buying duty free, any work on the flying aspects above I mentioned? Is it true there is no hassle flying back and forth with just a US drivers license or Identification Card and nothing else??? That is what I was told earlier today. THANKS!

ms411: Yes, you missed the part where the OP says they specifically asked about flying back into the US from the USVI.

The bottom line is that when returning to the mainland from the USVI which is a designated Port of Entry into the US, you MAY be asked to provide photographic proof of ID, and citizenship. A passport provides both. If you do not have a passport, photographic ID can be such as a state driver's license or other government-issued ID, A copy of your birth certificate provides proof of citizenship. If you happen to be returning on one of the days when Homeland Security is conducting one of these "swoops" (which of course are unannounced) and you do not have with you proof of citizenship you will be nicely pulled out of the line and to one side to answer a few questions to establish your citizenship. It's really that simple and has been posted about scores of times.

Stt resident answered it about perfectly! The only thing I forgot to make clear that Stt resident made clear is if there is a sweep you would only need a COPY of the BC, not original raised seal BC. I think that is also good news..... Again though, speaking directly to the government and airline it sounds like no issue. That being said a photo copy of your bc is more than fine

Restriction of the right to travel:

The Right to Travel

"As the Supreme Court notes in Saenz v Roe, 98-97 (1999), the Constitution does not contain the word "travel" in any context, let alone an explicit right to travel (except for members of Congress, who are guaranteed the right to travel to and from Congress). The presumed right to travel, however, is firmly established in U.S. law and precedent. In U.S. v Guest, 383 U.S. 745 (1966), the Court noted, "It is a right that has been firmly established and repeatedly recognized." In fact, in Shapiro v Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), Justice Stewart noted in a concurring opinion that "it is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association, ... it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all." It is interesting to note that the Articles of Confederation had an explicit right to travel; it is now thought that the right is so fundamental that the Framers may have thought it unnecessary to include it in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights."

For Saenz v. Roe, "Justice Stevens, writing for the majority, found that although the "right to travel" was not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution, the concept was "firmly embedded in our jurisprudence." He described three components of the right to travel:

1. The right to enter one State and leave another;
2. The right to be treated as a welcome visitor rather than a hostile stranger;
3. For those who want to become permanent residents, the right to be treated equally to native-born citizens."

"United States v. Guest 383 U.S. 745 (1966) is a United States Supreme Court opinion, authored by Justice Potter Stewart, in which the court extended the protection of the 14th Amendment to citizens who suffer rights deprivations at the hands of private conspiracies, where there is minimal State participation in the conspiracy. The Court also held that there is Constitutional right to travel from State to State."

"The argument revolved around whether or not Congress intended to apply equal protection rights of the 14th Amendment to citizens deprived of said rights on public facilities—i.e. roads and bridges or interState commerce facilities—by private actors with the collusion of public actors, in this case police who responded to the murderers false reports that Penn and his cohorts had committed crimes."

"Shapiro v. Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), was a Supreme Court decision that helped to establish a fundamental "right to travel" in U.S. law. Although the Constitution does not mention the right to travel, it is implied by the other rights given in the Constitution. (Although the right was recognized under the Equal Protection clause in this case, pre-Fourteenth Amendment, the right to travel was understood as protected by the Privileges and Immunities Clause (Article IV), as a privilege of citizenship, and therefore might have been applied to the States under the Privileges or Immunities Clause of Amendment XIV, as J. Stewart wanted.)"

******************************

The Constitution of the US is being destroyed more and more every day, and this is an example that no one looks at. There are many more examples.

A copy of your birth certificate is not proof of anything as documents without a raised seal are easily printed at home. I fly between the USVI and the states frequently, and on STT I am always asked for proof of citizenship by ICE. Folks who answer phones are pretty low on the totem pole, and hearing that it is a U.S. to U.S. flight tends to garner an autopilot answer from them, but if you delve into the Federal government website you will find that proof of citizenship is required, and that the proof is either a passport (not the passport card) or a raised seal original birth certificate and a state/territory issued photo ID.

Hi dntw,

I understand about the government workers on the phones being low on the totem pole, so to put it in more of a perspective since so many people just have passports and preach you "better get a passport or else you will not get back", well, have you ever told ICE or whoever when flying back that you just do not have one??? I would rather hear more stories about people WITHOUT a passport versus people that had one and were asked for proof of citizenship. Again, I know the original people that answer the calls are low on the totem pole, but I spoke with both them and the airline and both sounded professional and not worried about it at all. More true stories on NO passport would be helpful, or dntw, since you do fly the trip so much, please tell them next time you do not have the passport and post the results of what happens..... Again, back to my first post, you so different thoughts and rumors and feedback everywhere, so let's try to get down to the actual fact of my original findings.

And yes, a million of you will just tell me to get a passport......... That has nothing to do with my original question. Have you ever tried to get back to the mainland without a passport??? Not if they asked you for citizenship and you presented a passport.

Frankly, with all the horror stories I hear about the TSA from people flying WITHIN the continental US, I am too afraid to risk re-entry without a birth certificate. We head out to STT next week and I'm getting a copy of my bc, just because in today's paranoid society where we still have to take our SHOES off at the airport, chances are that arguing with a hulking guard at the Miami airport that the law says I don't need proof of citizenship would likely end up with me detained in some scary little room with a flickering light and ominous music in the background. Low man on the totem pole at the airport is the guy I'm worried about placating... 🙂

woop woop! you heard it here first folks! direct from the US Border Patrol web site with the joint effort of the US Department of State and US Homeland Security!!!

"Requirements for lawful permanent residents of the United States are not changed by the implementation of WHTI. Lawful permanent residents must continue to present a valid Permanent Resident Card. A passport is not required."

This is for air travel within US Territories and the WHTI is the Western Hemisphere Travel Imitative........ For all of those on the cruise forums, caribbean air travel forums, and as much as I hate to say it, this forum, um NO! YOU DO NOT NEED ANYTHING BUT A VALID US DRIVERS LICENSE/I.D. CARD! PERIOD!

For those that dispute this are those already with a passport and just preach to everyone to get one because it is much easier, or, you were ask for "proof of citizenship" at the airport and got all paranoid and pulled out your passport and went on your way. Fact is, NO passport OR birth certificate is needed, period. Unless you are high up on the totem pole at US Border Patrol, Department of Homeland Security, or US Department of State there is no reason to respond.

The myth has been debunked! Thank me, i'm pretty!!! 😎

dntw8up: Up until a year or so ago a copy of a birth certificate wasn't officially accepted and a raised seal was mandated. That rule, however, was relaxed and a copy is now acceptable. Cheers!