Are you traveling outside the United States? Then you’ll most likely need to get a US passport. Depending on your destination and mode of travel, you can either use a regular passport book or a passport card as your official travel document. In this article, we’ll be dealing with the passport card, including your questions about what a U.S. passport card is, and how to acquire one.
First off, a Passport card is an affordable and lightweight alternative to your passport book. It is wallet-size, making it easier to store than the larger passport book, and is obviously a lot thinner as well. It is also a lot cheaper than a regular passport book, costing around half of the price of a passport book.
Before you apply for one, you should first know the travel requirements for your destination of choice. You should know outright that you can only use your passport card when traveling by land or sea to destinations in the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). Territories included here are Bermuda, Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. Now if you’re planning of travel to destinations apart from the list, then you’ll need the passport book.
Once again, you can only use your passport card if you’re traveling by sea or land. Now what if you’re planning to travel to WHTI destinations by plane? You cannot use your passport card in this instance. Therefore, you’ll have to present your passport book.
If you regularly travel to WHTI countries as well as countries outside of the WHTI areas, then you have the option of applying for both types of Passport card. It means that you can apply for both a passport card and a passport book. You will then have the option of what you’re going to use depending on your destination for a particular trip. It’s also advised that you apply for both at the same time rather than individually as you will get a huge discount if you do.
Let’s now talk about applying for a passport card. Current or previous passport owners may send in their application for a passport card by mail. This requires you to fill in the Form DS-82. You’ll also need this form even if you’re applying for a passport card for the first time. However, you’ll need to sign the DS-11 form if you’ve never had any type of passport before, whether it’s the passport card or book.
Having a passport card can be convenient when you’re traveling as it has a built-in radio frequency identification (RFID) chip. It enables the US Customs to verify your personal information wirelessly by simply scanning your passport card. It’s quick and it’s convenient, as all the information they need are quickly downloaded.
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