Quote:
Originally Posted by Travis Hoffman
I believe bussed students on a trip can still get away with birth certificates alone (corroboration?), but most team advisors are reluctant to go through the passport application process.
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Quote:
Land/Sea Travel
Beginning June 1, 2009
* U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry are required to have documents that comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), most commonly a U.S. passport, a passport card, a trusted traveler card such as NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST, or an enhanced driver's license.
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(taken from
HERE)
Note that "Birth Certificate" is not listed.
As to why anyone wouldn't want to get a passport:
I'm astounded. You can't go anywhere outside the US without one (well, you can't get back IN to the us without one...
), it's under $100, you can go to almost ANY Post Office to apply, and it's good for 10 years. Personally, I always use my passport for travel, even domestically, since it's almost unimpeachable.
When 1676 visited GTR 2 years ago, we had every kid get a passport (all the adults had one already) even though a birth certificate was adequate. We waited maybe 15 minutes at the border coming back in, no problems at all.
As for the OP, I think that some teams found their budgets a little bit shorter this year as well.