Passport Question

[cbzdel]

Hello, my wife and I were talking of taking a little weekend getaway to to Canada, we have never been there together before and have always talked about it.

My wife has a passport book but it still has her maiden name on it, it was never changed after we got married, and it is about to expire here in the next couple months. And I do not have a passport and have never had one. We have never done any international air travel and I am not sure we will anytime soon. That being said we are debating on what we should do. We seen these new "Passport Cards" and they seem pretty much identical to the WA enhanced drivers license. That being said would anyone waste their time with a "Passport Card" when you can just get the Enhanced DL? The passport books are just so expensive and I am fairly positive we will not be flying out of the county anytime soon, since we could barley afford to fly out of state haha..

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[Cougfan2]

I would get the passport if I were you. I used to travel in Canada on business extensively. In the couple of years that I was traveling up there, the first couple of times I just showed my drivers license, but they started tightening up on security and the last few times I traveled there I took my passport. This was probably 16-17 years ago and they were tightening up the border then. Things may be different now, but I would call someone in Canadian Customs to find out if the WA enhanced DL will suffice.

 

[cbzdel]

The enhanced DL and passport card do essentially the same thing. they allow you to travel into Canada, Mexcio, Caribbean, and Bermuda by land and sea only, it does not work for air travel.

 

[halmbarte]

You'll also need a passport if you ever take a cruise that stops in foreign ports too. Besides, they work very nicely for employment ID if you ever change jobs.

Have your wife renew her passport before it expires. It's a **** of a lot easier to renew a passport that's still valid than to get a new one. You can send in a copy of the marriage license to get her name updated for the new one.

H

 

[drew]

You'll also need a passport if you ever take a cruise that stops in foreign ports too. Besides, they work very nicely for employment ID if you ever change jobs.

Have your wife renew her passport before it expires. It's a **** of a lot easier to renew a passport that's still valid than to get a new one. You can send in a copy of the marriage license to get her name updated for the new one.

H

Just make sure it was issued within the last 15 years or you have to reapply. There is also a form to change the name on one too. I'd also suggest having a passport with you just in case you do need to take a flight or something.

 

[Sun195]

Passport is a good form of "official" ID if you ever need to provide several for some reason. Also, you never know when you might get the chance (or have to) fly out of the Country - better to be ready than try to scramble around at the last minute.

 

[STNOSU]

Just a fyi, especially since your not far from Seattle, you can schedule an appointment at the passport center in Seattle. You can make an appointment for the morning and pick up your new passport that afternoon. A few years ago my son and I got our first passports and my wife changed hers to her married last name. We paid the rush fee to make sure we got them in time, our son's and mine came in time. We found out she had to fill another form, two days before our wedding we had to make an appointment to get her passport. We had a 8am appointment and had her passport 2pm the same day. They also refunded the rush fee.

Schedule an Appointment at the Seattle Passport Agency

 

[lowly monk]

Also if you plan to be driving; ( A rental ) Go to AAA and get a international drivers license. Then check with your insurance to see if your covered. As with Mexico; It is good to get the local insurance. Insurance=covered. Then plaster the window cleaners stickers all over your car. Get a passport.
PS. You can get passports from the post office.

 

[dolooper]

Get the passport if you can.
Passport = options.

 

[spider]

get the passport book , save ya some headaches

 

[Stomper]

+1 on every single post above... GET A PASSPORT!

 

[deen_ad]

A couple years ago we took a cruise to Alaska (also a stop in Canada), my wife and I already had passports but the two grandkids we're raising didn't. We had to get all the paperwork in order, including Guardianship for both ($6,000 in attorney fees alone). Then be sure we had their passports in hand, plus all the other paperwork, including name change on the youngest! Luckily Holland America had someone that knew what we needed and helped us. Still nerve wracking to arrive at the dock and not be sure all the I's were dotted and the T's all crossed!! It worked out fine though.
Get a passport, then maybe the enhanced DL, which we haven't done.

 

[USMC1345]

You'll also need a passport if you ever take a cruise that stops in foreign ports too.

A little off topic, but on my last cruise I was informed by Carnival Cruise Lines that they will begin requiring passports for ALL cruises that stop at ANY port, U.S. or otherwise. They have cruises that only go out to sea and return to the same port without stopping anywhere, so no passport required for those. This was a couple years ago, so they may have started requiring passports by now.

 

[HappyRoman]

Travel alot.. Passport always has worked, even when driving mtrhome to Canada..

 

[ZigZagZeke]

Get your passports. By the time you discover you need one for something it's ALWAYS too late to get it without a trip to Seattle. My whole family has passports, even the baby when she was 6 months old. Made flying to Hawaii (enhanced security) with the kids and wife a snap. Nobody ever questions a passport as ID.