OK. So I have a trip booked to Mexico, and I leave on Sunday. I dug up my passport, and had COMPLETELY forgotten that I’d gotten it under my maiden name. I have since married and divorced, but kept my married name. So here’s the identification I have at my disposal:
Valid U.S. passport, maiden name
Expired US driver’s license, maiden name
Valid US driver’s license, married name
Certified birth certificate, maiden name
Social security cards, maiden and married name
MISSING:
Marriage certificate
Divorce decree
I’m kinda panicking. I can’t believe I forgot that my passport was in my maiden name, or I would have taken care of this months ago. And looking at the State Department’s website, I need either the marriage certificate or the divorce decree to get a new passport issued, and I can’t find either one. My ex-husband may have the marriage certificate a couple states away. And at any rate, the new passport would have to be issued hella fast.
So, can I get to Mexico and back with this documentation? The State Department website doesn’t really address this, beyond answering the FAQ about name changes (A: get a new passport).
According to this site, if you are a US citizen traveling from the US to Mexico, although a passport is always recommended, the requirements are proof of citizenship (your birth certificate) and a photo ID (your valid drivers license). Is Mexico your final destination or are you traveling onward from there? If it’s your final destination it looks like you have all you need.
It’s one thing to have the correct travel documents to gain entrance into a foreign country. It’s also important to have have the correct travel documents to get back into your own country when you return.
You’ll make it under the wire.
At the end of this year you will be required to have a valid US Passport to re-enter the US from Mexico by air or sea. The law will include land admissions from Mexico at the end of 2007.
OK – I will replace my passport before before the end of the year, just so I won’t ever run into this again. Arrgh! I was really concerned that the last name on my birth certificate and passport don’t match the last name on my driver’s license (or airline tickets, for that matter).
Yes, Mexico is my only destination (Yay! Playa del Carmen!). I know that if I were headed anywhere outside of North America I’d be REALLY panicking!
How on earth could a valid American driver’s license be sufficient? I have a valid American driver’s license, but I am in the US on a work visa (I am not even a permanent resident). My driver’s license expires long after my visa does.
*I would take your passport or birth certificate with you, anyway. * The other problem you could run into is your airline not letting you board if you cannot prove you’re a US citizen. US airlines can suffer heavy fines if it can be shown that they allowed a passenger to fly into the US without either a valid visa, a green card, or verification of US citizenship.
For example, my sister (and this was years ago) was almost denied boarding on her departing flight from the US to Mexico because the only ID she had was her drivers license. After much hassle, she had to meet up with an airline representative at her connecting airport to sign a waiver stating that she was, in fact, a US citizen. This almost made her miss her flight.
And she could have had the same hassle coming back into the US, officially. The airline could have refused to let her board in Mexico City. Fortunately, no one even asked her, but for many days in Mexico we were very worried that she wouldn’t be allowed on the plane.
In the past it was standard practice to be allowed into Mexico using only your US driver’s license as ID. (I assume that the Mexican officials assumed you were validly in the US if you had an ID. Really, why would they care about your US immigration status?) In 1996, I tried to give the immigration official at the airport my passport and he sniffed derisively and told me my license was what he wanted.
Now, of course, that may have changed since then, but remember we’re talking about Mexico’s immigration/visa/border crossing policies and procedures. You, of course, need to have approval to leave and re-enter the US (I believe) and would have to have your employment card with you plus other documentation to let you back into the US.
And I think this is where people get confused. There’s the documentation you need to get into Mexico, and then there’s the documentation you need to re-enter the States.
For mexico IME you should be fine, I only had my valid drivers licence and birth certificate and had no problems. Granted stuff is changing, might want to try contacting the airline and or cruise line you are travelling with, they are usually pretty up on current issues you will run into.
Your passport is generally considered the ultimate form of ID. You don’t need any supporting documents to go with it in the U.S. or most foreign travel. If you just show that by itself, it should be sufficient.
That brings up the interesting question of what your name really is. Females get free name changes if they choose after weddings and divorces but there isn’t a centralized procedure to do that. You simply update documents like driver’s licenses as you choose. However, like I said, a passport trumps a driver’s license for ID. What if you just decided you wanted your old name back? You already have the ID to support it.
That last part was more of a theoretical/ legal excercise.
This is what I came in here to say. I have travelled pretty extensively and have never been asked for multiple forms of ID if I had my passport with me. I think that it is pretty common to ask for an alternate if you’re using something like a driver’s license, but as Shagnasty points out, The Passport is the ultimate form of ID issued by the US. It doesn’t need to be supported by anything else. I think that it is pretty much assumed that the hoops you have to jump through to get The Passport are, in and of themselves, the verification for the person who holds it.
I would worry more about having an ID that matches the name on the airline tickets during check-in.
For US citizens, Mexico only requires proof of citizenship. Your certified birth certificate and one piece of picture ID is all that is required. It is very rare for US citizens to have any kind of problem entering Mexico.
