<p>Are U.S. citizen kids (age 17) able to go in and out of Mexico from, let’s say, California, with just a birth certificate, or is a passport needed? Is it different if by land or air?
Will it change soon (as here in Buffalo re: Canadian travel)?</p>
<p>Am sending S to So.Cal as freshman - need to know whether to bother getting him a first passport now, in all this mess, if he just wants to visit Mexico with new friends. Many thanks.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/programs/gc_1182177661759.shtm[/url]”>http://www.dhs.gov/xtrvlsec/programs/gc_1182177661759.shtm</a></p>
<p>At the moment, you only need government-issued ID (and perhaps your birth certificate) cross by land to Mexico or Canada. For air, the temporary “you-can-use-your-status-update-page” rule works.</p>
<p>Word to wise – if you don’t have passport for children traveling to Canada and Mexico, make sure to bring birth certificate and picture ID with you on trip.</p>
<p>I applied in March for a passport for my fourteen year old daughter to travel to Canada for a family vacation in July. We did not receive passport before vacation.</p>
<p>I called the passport office a few weeks before vacation and was told to get verification of passport application from their website. The woman I spoke with said this was the only document my daughter would need. I specifically asked if we needed to bring her birth certificate with us and was told no.</p>
<p>Luckily, we brought daughter’s birth certificate with us anyway. We were asked for it at least four times. Also, daughter needed a picture ID – she used her school ID card.</p>
<p>Thank you, tlaktan. The links to Homeland Security and WHTI were extremely informative for both situations that rule my life: the U.S./Canadian border, and U.S./Mexican. Much appreciated.</p>
<p>Marlene, you were smart!</p>
<p>We just returned from a cruise to Alaska. Because we flew into Vancouver, we had to have passports. 2 of us applied for 1st time passports the week after Easter; H applied for renewal at same time. I somehow misplaced my driver’s license (fell out of purse & between car seats 
I later discovered ), so I had to get a replacement license & ended up having to pay for expedited passport when I applied 9 weeks before trip. I got my passport less than 2 weeks later. D got her passport 13 weeks later (after trip), S got his 14 weeks later (yesterday, actually). H — only one RENEWING — still hasn’t gotten his!! Only I had a passport when we left.</p>
<p>On the trip, we brought copies of the pages from the government website that stated we had applications in progress. We brought birth certificates for all. H & D brought drivers licenses. I printed out the page from the government website that stated government photo id is necessary for kids 16 & up, but not for 15 & under (S is 15). We were asked for ALL that we brought … S was never asked for any photo id, due to age (BTW, school id is NOT valid id; 16 & up MUST have drivers license or state issued id). We didn’t have any problems. Of course, if we had gone to a country besides Canada (or Mexico), the passport is a necessity.</p>
<p>One caution … we had checked in online, but you still have to run your passport through an auto check in scanner at the airport. So … the ones who didn’t have a passport couldn’t do auto check in. We had to stand in line at the ticket counter & the agent had to go through all our paperwork & photo id.</p>
<p>Kelsmom, With respect to the nation of which I’m a dual citizen (Canada and U.S.), I recall it said, “A good Canadian loves nothing better than a good rule-book.” As you found: when in Canada, always bring more documents, just in case.</p>