Children and Entry

Toddy · #1 01-10-2002, 03:53 AM

Greetings:
My sister is 14 and I am taking her to the Dominican Republic in 2 months for a vacation. We are both from the US. She does not possess a passport but I do. I have read elsewhere that her birth certificate and a government-issued photo ID will be sufficient for her to enter the DR. The problem is that I do not know how to obtain a "government issued photo ID" for her, other than a passport. Were she over 16, she'd have a driver's license, but this isn't possible at her age. She does have a school id containing her picture, but this is just a flimsy piece of laminated cardboard and looks rather unofficial. What shall I do? I probably don't have time to get a passport for her, unless I get very expensive expedited service. Will the school ID and birth certificate be adequate? Is there any other form of ID that someone could recommend?
Thanks.
BTW, this forum is awesome, and I'll be posting many questions in the coming months and my photos when I return.
Toddy

doug · #2 01-10-2002, 05:51 AM

Get your lawyer to notorized a picture of her and make sure it is stamped and that should be sufficient....I lost all my ID when I was about 17 and I used this method to gain entry into the DR, I'm from Canada and the entrie requirements were the same as they are now.....mind you this was over 20 yrs ago! I took a passport photo and had my lawyer attest to the fact that this was indeed me, along with my birthcertificate! Sounds kinda loose, I know....but it worked for me....also ask your travel agent!

doug · #3 01-10-2002, 05:54 AM

I don't know about whereever you are, but here in Canada, you can get a passport in 3 to 10 days. If you are in Canada e-mail me an I will tell you how I went about it one time and got mine in 3 days.....at no extra cost!

Jodi · #4 01-10-2002, 09:25 AM

Hi Toddy....you should check with the Dominican Consulate or Tourist Office wherever you are, but I'm pretty sure that any children under the age of 16 who are not travelling with both parents need notarized written permission from both parents. I recall that when my sister took her baby to the DR, she had to take along a letter signed by her husband.

Hillbilly · #5 01-10-2002, 10:41 AM

Criss Colon · #6 01-10-2002, 10:58 AM

You have more than enough time to get your sister a US Passport! Get it done and you don,t have to worry about it .Everyone should have a "Valid Passport" I once got a trip to Europe,because I was the only one in the office with a valid passport,and I had to leave the next morning!If you can,t "afford" a passport,you should stay home! Criss Colon

El Jefe · #7 01-10-2002, 12:16 PM

If you're in the States, most states have a state issued ID card for folks who don't drive but need some official ID. Check with your motor vehicle department.

Toddy · #8 01-10-2002, 05:34 PM

Thanks everyone for the tips. Cris, please read a little more carefully. I never said I couldn't "afford" a passport. Of course I can afford a passport! If I couldn't, why the heck would I be using my money on traveling and not something else like buying food? What I said was that I wanted to avoid the expense of expedited passport service, which makes a passport cost about 2x as much in the states. Especially if a passport is unnecessary for her to enter, getting expedited service seems like throwing money down the drain.

Todd

Hillbilly · #9 01-10-2002, 06:47 PM

You do have the time to get a passport. It should not take more than a couple of weeks if you have your birth certificate and photos.
and once you have one, it is absolute proof of who you are. Good thing for a kid to have..

Hb

PJT · #10 01-15-2002, 08:32 PM

Try the following state dept website for passport information. It should help you out. Regards, PJT

http://travel.state.gov/passport_services.html