Comments on: Passport or passport card?

By: Mr. Rodney Long

Mr. Rodney Long — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 13:07:13 +0000

I keep reading references to Airports and over seas travel when everything I have read from the Government sources say you cannot use this for air travel. To use this for anything other then land or sea travel between Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean islands and Bermuda is not permitted. Please don’t think this is going to take the place of a Passport in all situations . It was put in place because your legal ability to declare citizenship with out confirmation of the Government was removed. Now under new laws you must have federal documentation proving the Government recognizes you as such.
( Reference: Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative and Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004)

By: Tina

Tina — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:02:59 +0000

Believe it or not, I have to get my son a passport so he can get his Texas driver’s license. He’ll get the Passport card.

The ‘acceptable identification documents’ required to get a TX DL are harsher than the US Passport required documents. Birth certificate and SS card no longer work. A third document is required and out of the list the easiest for him to get including….join the military to get a military ID, go to prison to get a Texas inmate ID card, or get a Passport !!!

By: askmrlee

askmrlee — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 10:19:36 +0000

I got my passport card back in August 2008 and these were so new at the time, the Philadelphia TSA asked me for another form of ID because they didn’t recognize it.

Here are the details. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security/857576-new-passport-card-not-accepted-tsa-philadelphia.html

I wished their stupidity was captured for that ABC reality show on Homeland security.

I carry it with me and use it to buy beer and wine and Sudafed since there is no stripe to swipe and this trumps any stupid “no out of state ID” rule that a store may have.

Target reads the magnetic strip or scans the 2D barcode on state IDs to “verify” your birthdate. What freaks me out from a privacy standpoint is that the magnetic stripe contains all the info on your license. The 2D barcode contains that plus your image. Only the birthdate is needed for these transactions and I believe a store has no right to read or capture the other data, even if it’s not retained. Sure the sign may say that no other data is captured, but tell that to the people whose info was breached at Stop and Shop because the terminals were hacked.

http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2007/02/19/stop__shop_reports_credit_data_was_stolen/

The ID number on the card is different from the passport book.

Yes there is an RFID chip on it, but it comes with a mylar sleeve. If you are extra paranoid, wrap the card in foil if you like.

The info regarding the fee is not correct. As a passport book holder, you pay $20 and no other ordering fee to the State Department. The card has a validity of 10 years from issue and expiration is not tied to the passport book.

That picture on the Polish ID is not a dude, it’s a lady named Anna.

By: gravy

gravy — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 06:52:02 +0000

For those of us in border states with Canada it is very handy. I can leave my passport elsewhere safely or at an embassy office when needed and still cross the border. That said, if I didn’t live near Canada, or took cruises on a regular basis, I wouldn’t see the value.

By: nicole

nicole — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:55:14 +0000

If I am allowed to smile on a passport card like that Polish dude is, I am in!

By: Rob Manderson

Rob Manderson — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 07:31:59 +0000

Quite apart from travel my US passport serves as an accepted proof of citizenship (I’m an Australian naturalised as a US citizen). Not that anyone apart from employers and immigration have ever actually cared about my status within the US. However, USCIS do advise we naturalised citizens to get a passport in case we ever lose the naturalisation certificate (it can take up to a year to replace the certificate if lost).

By: Mark Ashley

Mark Ashley — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:42:00 +0000

Flight Wisdom Guru — True, but good luck getting people outside airports to accept the card as identification. I’ve witnessed people showing passports to buy beer at a supermarket, and being turned away, because a driver’s license was required. Idiotic. But reality. With only 750,000 passport cards in circulation, it’ll take a while before there’s enough awareness of these cards to make them widely accepted.

Me too — Hmm, I wonder if the serial number of the card is the same as the book?

mps247 — You’re right, this IS a national identity card, but, as you state, it’s not a compulsory identity card. And with regard to credit card-sized identity cards, here’s an example from Poland:

By: Me too

Me too — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 01:02:41 +0000

I would get a booklet and card. The booklet fills up with too many re-entry stamps to the US. Use the card for that, right?

By: Flight Wisdom Guru

Flight Wisdom Guru — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:10:00 +0000

Well, you are forgetting a non-travel use for the passport card…

When one applies for government documents or employment, one needs a certain level of identity verification…a Passport ID card can serve this purpose.

By: Mike Maddaloni - The Hot Iron

Mike Maddaloni - The Hot Iron — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:13:55 +0000

I may get one just to get one!

But if I were going back and forth to Canada, I would prefer to carry this than a passport book, especially now as they have the chip in them and are not as flexible if you stick it in your front pocket.

mp/m