posted 06-02-2005 10:50               

quote:

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Don't you need a passport now to travel to Mexico (and Canada)? I don't recall when the new law goes into effect.

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The new law doesn't take effect for air travel to and from Mexico until December 31, 2006. There have been some rumblings suggesting that the timetable might be pushed out further into the future, but that's the law now.

quote:

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Have you checked to make sure he absolutely needs a birth certificate?

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That's a key. I imagine any reliable source you ask will tell you that a birth certificate or passport is required. Even the U.S. State Department says so. However, the document requirements for entering Mexico are generally not as stringent as for returning to the U.S. from Mexico.

Thus, if I didn't get the birth certificate before leaving, I would suggest to my son that he try to go anyway. I'm guessing you'll get your son on the plane, although there is no assurance, because airline employees are well trained as to what documents are necessary. If you do, make sure you leave instructions for a friend or relative to pick up the overnight package when it comes and then overnight it to you in ACA.

Alternatively, or as a back-up, consider using one of the Texas birth certificate services, such as this one.

posted 06-02-2005 10:51               

quote:

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Originally posted by liubruin:
Don't you need a passport now to travel to Mexico (and Canada)? I don't recall when the new law goes into effect.

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The new law goes into effect December 31, 2006. And it has to do with re-entering the US, not getting into Canada and Mexico.
http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

posted 06-02-2005 17:46               

quote:

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Originally posted by liubruin:
Don't you need a passport now to travel to Mexico (and Canada)? I don't recall when the new law goes into effect.

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It doesn't go into effect. Never signed into law.

posted 06-02-2005 19:29               

A couple of years ago my son and daughter and three of their friends went to Cancun. Mine had their original state issued BC's. Another had a notarized copy. The airline had no problem accepting either one. The other 2 had BC's issued by the hospital and it took us a lot of talking and the airline reps checking with supervisors before they would accept them.

The airlines will not let him on the plane if he doesn't have acceptable documents.

posted 06-02-2005 19:34               

The check in agents at our local airport are even running a fear based scam, telling unsuspecting travellers when they check in for their flight (ok me and I should have known better) that there would likely be a problem with their documents and they may be detained in Mexico for hours, if they didn't get an affadavit Notarized right then and there for a fee. (Those animals on the plane had nothing on the Jackals at the Frontier check in counter)

posted 06-03-2005 05:49               

Last June I tried to get back Buffelo border the US imigration agent would not accept my voter registration card. He said it could be fake.

My son thought he must be a democrat and saw my republican registration on the card....

Just a little chuckle for the morning..

Phil

posted 06-03-2005 18:57               

The above information was copied from US State Department web site.

FYI - Hospital birth certificates are not proof of citizenship.
An affidavit notarized affirming your citizenship is not proof of citizenship. The notary is not trained on citizenship issues.

A birth certificate certified by City, State, or US State Depart officials (US citizen born abroad) is proof of citizenship. A photocopy is not proof. A us passport is proof.

If we take the time to evaluate all the documents that have been mentioned as proof of citizenship, we can see that it would be very easy for a non citizen to prove they are citizens.

Forgot to mention - This is what required to get back into US from Mexico
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geo

posted 06-03-2005 19:11               

Reading your post, I think someone could easily get the impression that a passport is required for entry into Mexico and/or re-entry to the U.S. from Mexico. That is not correct.

Many of us can vouch from personal experience that the following U.S. State Department advisory is current:

quote:

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ENTRY REQUIREMENTS: The Government of Mexico requires that all U.S. citizens present proof of citizenship and photo identification for entry into Mexico. U.S. citizenship documents such as a certified copy (not a simple photocopy) of a U.S. birth certificate, a Naturalization Certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad, or a Certificate of Citizenship are acceptable. However, the U.S. Embassy recommends traveling with a valid U.S. passport to avoid delays or misunderstandings. U.S. citizens have encountered difficulty in boarding flights in Mexico without a passport. U.S. citizens boarding flights to Mexico should be prepared to present one of these documents as proof of U.S. citizenship, along with photo identification. Driver's permits, voter registration cards, affidavits and similar documents are not sufficient to prove citizenship for readmission into the United States.

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Thus, although passports are preferred, they are not necessarily required. Many of the forms discussed above and enumerated in the quote are generally acceptable as "proof of citizenship" for the purpose being discussed here.

posted 06-04-2005 09:57               

Purpose of my post was to get the message across that so many of the documents mentioned earlier were not sufficient. Official documents are the ones to use.

My experience as a Federal employee was that too many people would provide to me a photocopy of a birth certificate that was notorized by "Jane at the bank." This type of document is not valid for official purposes.

One of things people are not aware of is the theft of items from local and federal offices. Many, many blank birth certificates have been stolen from State and City offices nationwide. Many, many state and city offices have had their certification machines stolen nationwide. The "feds" do have records to show what items have been stolen. This info will often provide to the fed official the range of documents stolen, years invovled, etc.

One of my experiences involved a staff person from a Senator's office complaining to me that agency I worked for would not honor a "certified birth certificate" from a state of the union. Staff person said that we should honor it because it was obviously a good document. It bore the seal of the state and besides, "why would this individual go to Senator's office to complain about discrimination if the individual was trying to cheat?" End of story was that immigration officials showed up at the Senator's office to interrogate the staff person to find out if she was in collusion with the individual who had been arrested. The arrested individual had a fake bc. The blank form had been one of a large batch that was stolen along with the stamping machine. Arrested individual was found guilty and the Senator's staff person was not involved.

Edited to add comments about voter registration cards. How many of you actually had to provide proof that you were US citizen to get the card? I remember that all I had to do was to swear under oath that I was a citizen. This is the basic reason why a voter registration card is not proof of citizenship.

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geo

posted 06-04-2005 11:57               

3 years ago my kids and 3 of their friends went to Cancun. One of the other guy's mother realized too late that his was in a bank safe deposit box. She couldn't get to the bank before it closed and they had a 7:00 AM flight the next morning. I called US Air and they told me that they would accept a notarized copy. Did you ever try finding a notary after 9:00 PM on a Friday? Called everyone in the phone book until I found a lovely woman who said he could come over and she would notarize it. When he got there and asked how much, she said "Nothing"! He did pay her anyway. At flight check in, in Mexico and at customs, he had no problem whatsoever. Now the 2 kids with hospital issued birth certificates were another story.

Before I got my passport, I used my voter's registration card. Just like everything else in life, things change.

posted 06-04-2005 15:49               

Affidavit of US Citizenship

I, ___________________________ do hereby swear and affirm that I was born

on _____________________ in the city of ________________________ in the

state of ______________________________, and that I am now a citizen of the

United States of America.

Subscribed and sworn to before me this ____ day of __________ 20___.

_______________________________________
(Notary Signature)

Notary Public in and for the County of ___________________________ and the

state of ___________________________________

posted 06-04-2005 19:29               

The notary public stuff is interesting. All the notary is doing is certifying that John Doe presented this paper to notary public and John Doe provided id to show that he is John Doe. The notary public is not certifying that the info on the document is true.

I have crossed the Mexican border and Canadain border several times. I have seen many people get upset when they have difficulty getting back into the US because the documents they had were not sufficient.

As a 16 yr old, I and my 11 and 10 yr old brother and sister were held at the us border by us agents for 8 hours. The documents we had with us were my birth certificate issued by the State Depart (us citizen born abroad), brother's New Jersey bc, sister's Washington bc, and letters from State of Washington certifying that the adults with us were our foster parents and had permission to take us to Mexico for a vacation. We were held separately from the foster parents. So, I don't know if it was our documents that were lacking or if it was documents that the foster parents had for themselves. That was over 3 decades ago.

My personal opinion is that I am going to have the official documents with me from now on. That notary public signature from anyplace in usa may not impress the us agents at the border.

Edited to add that not everyone is thoroughly checked before getting back into the usa. Some people get through without showing documents and others have to show documents.

So, if you are honest looking, don't get nervous while going through customs and immigration (it is both), etc., you probably can get away with using fake documents. Then you can rest assurred that even the bad guys can do the same.
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geo