passport and bahamas

[Soggy]

I'm going to the bahamas in six weeks. I don't have a passport. My understanding is that I only need a copy of my birth certificate and a driver's license. What are people's experience with traveling to the Bahamas without a passport? Should I get one anyway (which, with a rush put on it, will cost like $160).

 

[WreckWriter]

makes life easier at customs and immigration but NOT required. What is required is proof of US citizenship. I would bring birth cert, drivers license, and at least one other good ID, maybe voter card or similar.

Tom

 

[Spectre]

WreckWriter once bubbled...
makes life easier at customs and immigration but NOT required. What is required is proof of US citizenship. I would bring birth cert, drivers license, and at least one other good ID, maybe voter card or similar.

Granted it was over 8 years ago, but they 'said' a drivers license and voter id card was fine [I couldn't find my birth certificate at the time; I was in the middle of moving].

It was fine to get into the bahamas with.

It was a little challenging to get back into the US.

So definately take a birth certificate...

 

[Soggy]

Where/how do I get a voter ID card?

...and what do y'all mean by "challenging" getting back into the US?

 

[Spectre]

AaronBBrown once bubbled...
Where/how do I get a voter ID card?

Voter ID card is obtained by going to the town hall in the town where you are registered to vote, and asking for a voter ID card. It states you're a registered voter in that town, and is stamped with the town seal. Since you're a registered voter, you must be a citizen.

...and what do y'all mean by "challenging" getting back into the US?

Lets see... It was my honeymoon that we were returning from. I gave them my voter ID card and my drivers license. They said it wasn't enough. We showed our Marriage Certificate [which we had because of the name discrepencies on her license vs. her birth certificate]. They said that wasn't enough.

Finally she had to sign a form, under penalty of purgery, vouching that I was her husband and I was a legal US resident.

hense 'challenging'...

 

[MikeS]

My wife and I were going to Nassau and when she went to check in (American Airlines at BWI) and presented her driver’s license and birth certificate they wouldn’t let her check in because the last names didn’t match. She had to drive all the way home and get a copy of our marriage certificate before they would let her check in. She missed her flight and had to go on a later one. There was only one seat on the later flight, so I stayed on our scheduled flight (I waited for her at the airport bar in Miami). Funny thing was they didn’t check any identification in Nassau, they simply took the tourist cards and said “have a good time.” Since then, we always travel with passports.

Mike

 

[Soggy]

I don't think I'll have the last name problem

 

[notabob]

if you take your birth certificate with you, make sure it's notorized, with the stamp and all. If you still got 6 weeks before your trip, apply for the passport anyway. They may process it faster than you think. I don't remember having to wait more than a month for mine, and I didn't rush it or anything. It may also speed things up if you apply in person at the office in Boston, instead of relying on your local post office to process it and forward the paperwork there. If you get it in time - great! Less headaches for you. If you don't, oh well. You'll still have your birth certificate that you can use.

-Roman.

 

[Soggy]

notabob once bubbled...
If you get it in time - great! Less headaches for you. If you don't, oh well. You'll still have your birth certificate that you can use.

My understanding was that you have to send in your birth certificate. So, if I don't get it in time, I'm screwed.

 

[herman]

The last I heard, a voter reg card IS NO LONGER accepted. As long as the names match up, you should not have any trouble with a birth cert and a drivers license. Just make sure the birth certificate has a raised seal, a photo copy without the raised seal will not be acceptable. Like others have said, a PP is the way to go, if for no other reason than you get the neat stamps on it. You can get the forms for the PP off the web BUT be sure to take BOTH pages. As stupid as it sounds, the second page is just instructions but if you do not have it with you, they will not accept the application. You will also need a birth certificate for the PP as well so if you have to get one, get 2. You have to send it with the application, they return it with the PP.

Just saw your last post
Don't know where you are from but here in NC, you can get one in a few minutes at the court house in the county where you were born. If you don't live close by, at least here in NC, you parents can also get one for you.