<p>I don’t know about in the US, but here in the UK you usually need your passport as proof of citizenship/right to work when going to job interviews.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, my S managed to lose his passport between going through security at the airport in Paris and getting back on the plane at the layover airport in Iceland on his way home from a term abroad. (Actually, I’m fairly sure it was stolen…probably picked his pocket.)</p>
<p>He had to talk to someone in the consulate in order to get back on the plane and get back into the country. And the airline lost his checked bag. So he arrived back with the clothes on his back, his laptop, and a musical instrument. :)</p>
<p>If your kiddo is going to work they will need proof for the I-9 form. An original birth certificate or a passport will qualify…so you’ll need to send them off with some form of identification that is “precious.” Take a deep breath and remember that you aren’t going to know what your kiddo is doing 24/7…or going. I had one that was very good about calling me if they were traveling and call me when they returned home. I have another one that I only know where he is during breaks and long weekends by his Facebook feed. There is absolutely alittle bit of letting go. If you don’t think they are mature enough to be on their own at a college, don’t send them. That said I have an 85 year old mother who worries constantly, all the time, still and everytime something bad happens she projects. As her D that is really painful to me that she is so neurotic. Bad things do happen, but you cannot let it consume you.</p>
<p>My son did manage to leave his passport behind in storage on his campus halfway across the country when his summer plan was to study in another country. Oh, well. We got him another one and he <em>probably</em> learned something.</p>
<p>My S left his passport in the refrigerator in his dorm room by mistake. He was hurriedly ‘tidying up’ (bless his soul), and put the pizza away with his passport under it in the refrigerator.
They all learn eventually.
Don’t worry too much about passports. If she doesn’t go to Mexico because of no passport, she’ll go to Florida, which is almost as bad :-)</p>
<p>My 18 y.o. son is off in the fall. Did not even think of this issue yet. What else have I missed? If he does not ask, probably keep it safe at home. Otherwise will hand it over.</p>
<p>You do realize that bad things can happen right here within our borders, of course. (Not sure that would make you feel any better…)</p>
<p>It’s just too easy for things to get lost in a dorm room. PMKjr is a Sophomore in college now and we keep his passport, birth certificate and social security card here. We could always overnight something should the need arise.</p>
<p>I have my passport at college, and I have actually needed it a number of times for logistical reasons (involving employment) - overnighting it obviously will work just fine, but I needed my passport when I filled out my I-9, for example, and I was glad to have it with me; it made things much easier. Since I’m in Pittsburgh, however, I’m not really near Canada or Mexico, so that’s a non-issue.</p>
<p>@stradmom Bad things can happen a block away from our street, you never know albeit our town has a violent crime rate of .56/1000 compared to the national median 0f 4/1000. Mexico is one of the 31 countries that the US State Dept. listed with a travel warning. I don’t think foreign countries listed U.S.A. in their countries’ respective warning list.</p>
<p>Also, if she takes a job with her college she will need to prove she has the right to work in the United States. A passport proves she is a US citizen. Usually a driver’s license is not enough. Colleges are pretty strict about this rule.</p>
<p>Our son goes to college very close to the Canadian border. I made a copy and handed the passport over. He came home with it, none the worse for wear. The first, Oh! Everything is different now!, came when my then freshman daughter called and said that the reason I had not been able to reach her was because they had decided to go to a concert 6 hours away and just got back. It was then that I realized that they were going to do what they wanted and I had to trust that that was the right thing. So far, so good.</p>
<p>Our kids’ college accepted a color email/fax of the passport photo scanned for their employment. S had his actual passport if it was needed but D has left hers in HI & asked me to keep holding it when I asked her today.</p>
<p>Didn’t worry too much when our very organized D (she never loses anything) took her passport to school for I9 paperwork. Asked her a week before we came for move-out if she still had it. She said yes. After we packed her things & took them to offsite storage unit, she couldn’t find the passport. Back to storage unit to unpack everything with no luck. Drove 1200 miles home and then had to make a 350 mile round trip to regional passport office to get emergency replacement. She made her flight for study abroad term three days later.</p>
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<p>It’s federal law for all American workplaces: All employees must prove both identity (driver’s license) and eligibility. The usual way to prove eligibility is the Social Security card, but I’ve never liked the idea of carrying that around. The passport covers both.</p>
<p>BTW, this requirement applies to work study jobs too.</p>
<p>This was before you needed passport to cross border to Mexico. The only reason I was happy son chose not to go to UCSD was because crossing the border would not be an easy option. However, his fraternity spent a weekend in SD and went to Rosarita Beach for lobster. I was on pins and needles. It was probably a good thing for him to see what was down there, see the bad drivers and roads-he survived thankfully. I still have his passport-kept it to keep it secure during college. We are just an hour away from him.</p>
<p>Yes, things can happen right at college. It’s not the safest place for a young adult to be. you know. But Mexico does have specials issues and problems. I’ve known a number of kids who have gone down there and gotten into trouble. It is an extra layer of concern when you have a college kid who is going there a lot. The military has those concerns to with soldiers stationed near these borders. There is an additional risk.</p>
<p>I hated giving my kids any important documents because they did tend to lose things like that easily. If you can manage to get the kids to work with you on this matter, good for you. I don’t think making it an ultimatum is the way to go.</p>
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<p>Believe me, it is much,much, much easier to replace a lost passport than it is to replace a lost social security card. More expensive, but easier.</p>
<p>Does she want to have her passport with her? If so, has she said why (for example to go partying in TJ)?</p>
<p>If she hasn’t mentioned having it and has no immediate plans to go to a foreign country then it’s safer for her to just keep it at home although I wouldn’t think it’d be a high risk item to leave in her dorm room - thieves will more likely be after her laptop, ipod, cell phone, ipad, cash, and whatever other quick theft items they can take that have real value to them. Actually, the passport might be safer just in her desk drawer than a lockbox because someone might assume the lockbox must contain something valuable. </p>
<p>There are plenty of UCSD students who don’t go to Mexico, especially now with the violence down there, so don’t assume that she’ll randomly go there although of course she might want to. Has she mentioned wanting to go there? </p>
<p>You already know by now that holding her passport captive isn’t going to work to keep her from going there since she can fix that once she turns 18. The best bet is to have a frank discussion with her about the dangers of going to Mexico, especially the dangers of a young female going to Mexico and getting drunk, and hopefully she’ll be smart enough to avoid that. If she goes regardless then you’ve done all you can practically do at this point.</p>
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The reality is that that’s just a wish - you can’t really ‘not allow her to go’ since she’ll be an adult and doesn’t need your permission. You could coerce her of course, by having a strict rule that you’ll cut her off financially if she travel without your consent, but this isn’t a good path to head down and is usually destructive. It’s better to discuss it with her, reason with her, and then it’s up to her to decide. At that point it’s out of your hands - just like when she’s driving a car without you in it, walking around somewhere without you escorting her, etc. You raise em and at some point have to sit back and hope they learned well.</p>