• ALL persons*, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.

• Oral declarations are no longer accepted from U.S., Canadian or Bermudan travelers seeking to enter the U.S. by sea and/or land.  Travelers will need to present a valid government issued ID and a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.

• On June 1, 2009 all U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 16 and older  traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), will be required to present a valid passport or other alternative documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security.  U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 15 years old or younger will still be allowed to travel with just a copy of their birth certificate, as will teens between the age of 16-18 if they are part of an adult supervised school, religious, cultural or athletic group.

• Lawful Permanent Residents (Green card holder’s) do NOT need a passport to enter the United States, however you may need a passport to enter another country.  Please contact the embassy of the foreign country you will be traveling to for their requirements.

*Military personnel traveling under orders may present photo id and orders.  Family members must present a passport (with the exception of children 15 and younger arriving by land or sea).

Lawful permanent residents (LPR’s), refugees, and asylees will continue to be able to use their Alien Registration Card (Form I-551), issued by DHS, or the Travel Document issued to persons with refugee or asylee status to apply for entry to the United States. LPR’s may still need to present a passport for entry into a foreign destination.  For this reason airlines may deny boarding to LPR’s traveling without a passport.

If traveling from outside the Western Hemisphere, all U.S. citizens MUST present a passport, including children and infants.

Until June 1, 2009:

Travel by Land or Sea – If a U.S. citizen does not have a passport or a copy of a birth certificate, the following may be accepted as proof of citizenship: – A U.S. state or federal government-issued birth record (note: hospital-issued birth certificates are not acceptable) or naturalization paper. If a U.S. citizen child was recently born, and no copy of the birth certificate is available, bring whatever paperwork the hospital has given you as a record of the birth. While certified copies of Birth Certificates are preferred, and will speed your entry into the U.S., they are not required at this time.  If you do not have a certified copy of your birth certificate, and want to get one, they can be requested from the Vital Records office in the State where you were born.

A Certificate of Citizenship, or Certificate of Naturalization are also accepted [note: notarized photocopies or notarized fax copies of such certificates are acceptable, but affidavits of citizenship and voter registrations are not).

Birth Certificates, and Citizenship or Naturalization Certificates will not be acceptable for persons 18 or older unless accompanied by a government issued photo ID.

For information about what documents are required for a U.S. resident to enter a foreign country, we advise you to contact the embassy or consulate general of the country you intend to travel to in order to find out what documents they require you to have for entry. It is important to understand that some Western Hemisphere countries require you to have a passport for entry into their country, even though the U.S. does not require you to have one to re-enter the U.S.

• because of increasing incidents of child abductions in disputed custody cases and as possible victims of child pornography, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) strongly recommends that unless the child is accompanied by both parents
• the adult have a note from the child’s other parent (or, in the case of a child traveling with grandparents, uncles or aunts, sisters or brothers, or friends, a note signed by both parents) stating “I acknowledge that my wife/husband/etc. is traveling out of the country with my son/daughter. He/She/They has my permission to do so.”
• CBP also suggests that this note be notarized.

While CBP may not ask to see this documentation, if we do ask, and you do not have it, you may be detained until the circumstances of the child traveling without both parents can be fully assessed.
If there is no second parent with legal claims to the child (deceased, sole custody, etc.) any other relevant paperwork, such as a court decision, birth certificate naming only one parent, death certificate, etc., would be useful.

Adults traveling with children should also be aware that, while the U.S. does not require this documentation, many other countries do, and failure to produce notarized permission letters and/or birth certificates could result in travelers being refused entry. (Canada has very strict requirements in this regard.)

All children who are U.S. or Canadian citizens should also have a copy of their birth certificate if traveling by land or sea.  Children 18 and under are exempt from the requirement to have a government-issued photo ID.  If traveling by air, an unexpired Passport is required for everyone, including infants. Starting June 1, 2009, children under the age of 16 (15 or younger) will still not need a passport, although if they are not traveling with both parents, they will be required to have a letter of parental consent.  Teens between the ages of 16-18, if traveling as part of an adult-supervised school, religious, cultural or athletic goup, will also be exempt from rules requiring a passport, although they will need to have a copy of their birth certificate.  If just traveling with friends or family, 16-18 year olds will need a passport – as will all other U.S. and Canadian citizens over the age of 15.

Lawful permanent residents (LPRs), refugees, and asylees will continue to be able to use their Alien Registration Card (Form I-551), issued by DHS, or other valid evidence of permanent residence status or refugee or asylee status to apply for entry to the United States.