Passport or Birth Certificate?

[wriley18]

Is a passport required to travel from the US to the UK or will a birth certificate suffice?

[dzug]

I'm assuming that to ask such a question you are a US citizen.

The answer is NO - you need a passport. And the days of you being able to travel outside the US at all (Canada, Mexico, etc) without a passport are numbered if not gone.

[Dee Sa]

I cant believe you posted this question !surely in this day & age you cant possibly think that you can travel to another country without a passport ?

[CheekyChops]

Sorry but I have to agree with Dee Sa. With everything that has gone on in the past few years, you are never serious. Of course you will need a passport!!!

[warpig3]

Actually this question doesn't surprise me at all.

Three years ago my american cousin flew over here without the appropriate paperwork and when questioned at Heathrow she said she had come over to work but had no job lined up, she was then horrified to be detained at the airport and threatened with deportation. It showed complete ignorance on her part, and an arrogance to assume that she was free to go where she pleased whilst accepting that the need for green cards and visa in America was ok.

Makes you wonder!

also on a recent flight from the US to Ireland I sat beside an American lady, we got into conversation and she actually asked me 'so where exactly is Ireland then?'.

[auntiebertie]

I beleive that 80% of Americans do NOT have passports as in the past they have not needed them to visit Canada, or take cruises to the Caribbean or Mexico. This is changing and soon they will all be required to have one so they can travel! Scary!

[dzug]

It's a perfectly reasonable question for a US citizen. Until recently they were able to travel to Canada, Mexico Bermuda and the Caribbean without a passport.

At the moment the rules say they need a passport to travel by air to these places. If they travel by land or sea they don't - just proof of citizenship and an ID.

From the beginning of next year a passport (or possibly an alternative travel document) will be needed in all cases.

[warpig3]

dzug I can travel to Ireland freely without a passport but I think I would be being bl00dy stupid to assume that I could go to the US without one.

But I agree this is a reasonable question for someone in the US to ask, perhaps for different reasons though!