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Last night on NBC news (Brian Williams) reported that Americans coming back to the U.S. from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean will NOT have to show their passports but will have to have a receipt that an application is in the pipeline. Seems that you can get a receipt on the State Dept website that the application has been received and is in the worksl. It is effective immediately until the end of Sept!
Tried to find it to confirm on the web but haven't had much luck! Sure makes those BVI trip questions moot!
Cshell....i just heard the same this morning on Good Morning America. All those worries about passports just got easier or more confusing.
Note, though, that the US Virgin Islands are NOT lumped into generalized "Caribbean" because of their status as a U.S. Territory. The rules about passports for the USVI have been widely discussed and documented in several posts on this forum. Cheers!
of course the "rules" have been done ad infinitum but there are those folks who travel thru the USVI as a point of exit or entry to get to and from other islands -
C Shell:
I don't know if this really is good news or not.
According to the article you will still need a State Department receipt showing that you have applied for a passport. As one Congresswoman stated (concerning the original passport issue delays) "requiring a passport and then delaying the issuance of it is right up there in the stupid column". Now we're going to not only require the State Department to issue passports (for which there is a 3 month backlog), but also add work (and further delays?) by having to issue some kind of a receipt......this puts it in the "really stupid column".
Now if I could only figure out what a State Department receipt is and how long it will take to get it??????
F.I.
As long as you have a week to spare, check this link
http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/status/status_2567.html
Here's the article Matt provided on a new thread.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070608/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_passports
I hope this doesn't confuse anyone.
Neither passports, nor receipts, are required to travel to and from the other islands by sea (boat). (until '08)
Neither passports, nor receipts are required to travel by air to the USVI...
USAir is misinforming people going to STT by advising that passports are required. It isn't true.
Us Air and other airlines do that because one they train poorly and two the airline gets massive fines if they screw up. According to federal custom and immigration agents on stx you do not need a passport to go to any us territory. You do need a govt issued photo id. If an airline person tells you, you can't travel without a passport ask for their supervisor. I've had this problem several times. I prefer not to travel with my passport as i'm always scared I'm going to loose it. 🙂
