Just booked our first cruise! Passport thoughts....

[ldubs]

 

12 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

 

- do away with the old-fashioned passport "book" and create simple plastic cards sized like driver's licenses, which would fit into wallets and pockets more easily and would be less subject to water damage.  Today all the information is coded on those magnetic strips anyway.  

 

I predict the current passport book will be history in favor of a chipped card similar to what you say.  The stumbling block would likely be it will require all countries retrofit.  

 

 

[ldubs]

On 7/11/2023 at 5:04 PM, sparks1093 said:

The OP has one port of call in a foreign port, and that is in Canada. Their risk is substantially lower then a typical closed loop cruise in the Caribbean. You might feel that this justifies spending $350 and that's fine. Others might make a different choice and that's fine, too.

 

I would say the risk is pretty close to zippo.  Personally,  I would not spend for passports for a one-off cruise when they are absolutely not needed.  

[capriccio]

10 hours ago, Mum2Mercury said:

Why must passports from country to country be alike?  I mean, I know that my dual-citizenship grandson has two passports -- one blue, one red -- but why can't a country opt to change the format?  

 

1 hour ago, ldubs said:

I predict the current passport book will be history in favor of a chipped card similar to what you say.  The stumbling block would likely be it will require all countries retrofit. 

 

More and more countries are using automated passport controls.  Visiting New Zealand and Australia this spring we never even spoke to an immigration official. 

 

A program called E-Gates is already being used in a number of countries according to the National Law Review (https://www.natlawreview.com/article/what-travelers-need-to-know-about-electronic-e-gate-border-entry-systems😞

 

E-Gates automate border control by comparing biometrics data found in electronic passports (ePassports) with biometrics captured “live” at the gate. The countries that are using e-Gate technologies at some their airports include Australia, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

 

To use e-Gates, individuals generally must have:

• ePassports or a passport book containing an embedded chip with biometric data valid for 180 days from an eligible country; and

• Be of a certain age – at least 16 or 18 years of age.

 

At e-Gates, the “contactless” process allows travelers to be inspected and admitted to the destination in an efficient manner and significantly reduces the delay at the customs and inspection windows.

[ldubs]

11 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

 

More and more countries are using automated passport controls.  Visiting New Zealand and Australia this spring we never even spoke to an immigration official. 

 

A program called E-Gates is already being used in a number of countries according to the National Law Review (https://www.natlawreview.com/article/what-travelers-need-to-know-about-electronic-e-gate-border-entry-systems😞

 

E-Gates automate border control by comparing biometrics data found in electronic passports (ePassports) with biometrics captured “live” at the gate. The countries that are using e-Gate technologies at some their airports include Australia, France, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, and the United Kingdom.

 

To use e-Gates, individuals generally must have:

• ePassports or a passport book containing an embedded chip with biometric data valid for 180 days from an eligible country; and

• Be of a certain age – at least 16 or 18 years of age.

 

At e-Gates, the “contactless” process allows travelers to be inspected and admitted to the destination in an efficient manner and significantly reduces the delay at the customs and inspection windows.

 

Good stuff and a big step towards automating this whole process.  I don't know if they are the same as what you mention, but I've used the eGates at LHR.    

[Mum2Mercury]

20 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Funny thing was that four or five people when I was there did not bring their glasses for the vision test and could not complete and had to go home and get their glasses. 

I'd say "scary" instead of "funny", as these people drove to the DMV office!  

20 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

As far as Passport format I think that is by interenational treaties or an international agency. They have  to be machine readable. Individual countries can allow no passport or whatever for example some countries in the western hemisphere accept passport cards and EDL's. Or birth certificates. A card is feasible to replace books if all countries agree to accept. 

Interesting.  Yes, I can see that all countries would need to be able to "read" other countries' passports.  

20 hours ago, sparks1093 said:

First you want all 50 states to have drivers licenses that are the same, but countries should just have whatever design suits them? 

Hey, I'm not in charge of the world just yet!  I didn't say my thoughts were thoroughly cohesive and well-vetted.  

20 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

Passport cards don't need to be created. The US already issues them. Like Enhanced Driver's Licenses, they are only usable at land and sea border crossings.

Yes, I was saying that in today's modern world we should do away with the cumbersome passport books /have the full-fledged passport on a more convenient wallet-sized card.  

13 hours ago, PurpleHays said:

I actually prefer to travel with my passport--it's bigger, so it's harder to drop/lose. I always drop my DL. Also, the husband can never find his DL when he takes it out of his wallet and puts it in a pocket. The book is just easier for us.

We'll have to disagree on this. 

[donaldsc]

I am one of those who always says that you do not need a passport unless you find yourself in a situation where you do need one.  However if you assume that you are not going to do any international cruising in the near future and you can also accept the almost infinitesimal risk that you have a major health issue during your one day stop in Canada - I would say that in this case a passport is an unnecessary expense.

 

DON

[Turtles06]

On 7/13/2023 at 11:37 PM, ldubs said:

 

Good stuff and a big step towards automating this whole process.  I don't know if they are the same as what you mention, but I've used the eGates at LHR.    

Yes, those are the eGates to which @capriccio referred. We encountered them for the first time at LHR last fall. They were “brilliant” as the Brits would say. We breezed through immigration in seconds, while the lines for people who could not use them were insanely long. We were very grateful that the UK allows American passport holders to use the eGates. 

[Gopher40]

Thanks to all that responded. After discussion with my wife we think we are just going to pull the trigger and get passports.

[SoloAlaska]

On 7/13/2023 at 11:10 AM, Charles4515 said:

That would require international agreement.

Not so much when it comes to visa details. I know that doesn’t apply to many but as someone who often needs a business visa to travel they always refer to the dates in the booklet.

[Charles4515]

2 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Not so much when it comes to visa details. I know that doesn’t apply to many but as someone who often needs a business visa to travel they always refer to the dates in the booklet.

My post had nothing to do with visa details. 

[SoloAlaska]

Just now, Charles4515 said:

My post had nothing to do with visa details. 

Visas are inside the passport booklets. This is why booklets have pages. Just saying getting rid of the booklet and using a plastic card wouldn’t work for a lot of people and a lot of places one may travel to.

[Charles4515]

9 minutes ago, SoloAlaska said:

Visas are inside the passport booklets. This is why booklets have pages. Just saying getting rid of the booklet and using a plastic card wouldn’t work for a lot of people and a lot of places one may travel to.

That is why I said it would take international agreements. The visas could be electronic but countries would have to agree for that to work. That would involve a lot of countries agreeing. 

Edited July 21, 2023 by Charles4515

[SoloAlaska]

13 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

That is why I said it would take international agreements. The visas could be electronic but countries would have to agree for that to work. That would involve a lot of countries agreeing. 

The problem with that is that every country would have to agree, the power could never go down, and the internet has to always be working… that fails in first world countries sometimes never mind third world countries.

 

I was stuck at the border one day because the secure file transfer needed for a certain piece of paperwork to be forwarded was down across Canada. Literally pretty much all cross border commerce stopped for half a day because of that.

 

it’s nice to dream but the passport book is just the safest bet. But maybe it could be made in a more durable material to start.

[Meander Ingwa]

I think UK got hit last month with a network glitch.  Things got higgledy piggledy at LHR.

 

It would be a monumental task to get all countries to agree to a universal standard, particularly VISA Issues.  Some you jump thru hoops for, others are stapled into your book on arrival.

 

Then there is the ETIAS which a lot of us are poised to get when they finally green light the program.  How delayed is it?

[Charles4515]

2 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

The problem with that is that every country would have to agree,

Getting every country to agree would be difficult but there are countries that accept a US issued passport card for land and sea travel. So there is a precedent. 

[sparks1093]

12 hours ago, Charles4515 said:

Getting every country to agree would be difficult but there are countries that accept a US issued passport card for land and sea travel. So there is a precedent. 

Yes, but those are typically countries that didn't require much documentation to begin with. In years long past I've crossed both the Canadian and Mexican borders with nothing but my driver license and people have sailed to the Caribbean with nothing more than that. The change came about because the US no longer would accept just that for US citizens returning to the country.