Domestic travel in US - bring passport?

iusedtoknow

So i'm on a L1 visa, and we are off to NY.

Should I bring my passport or will my California drivers license do? My wife thinks we should bring them "just in case".

Ken.

Personally when I'm on hols I bring 5-10 colour photocopies of my passport photo/info page and always have one with me if I leave the digs for a trip. The passport stays in the safe or somewhere safe in the room.

Push Pop

iusedtoknow wrote: »

So i'm on a L1 visa, and we are off to NY.

Should I bring my passport or will my California drivers license do? My wife thinks we should bring them "just in case".

Domestically you just need your drivers license, but maybe bring the passport to make your wife happy!

Mellor

You don't need it for domestic flights. Think about people who don't have a passport, they are still allow on domestic flights.

2Mad2BeMad

ken wrote: »

Personally when I'm on hols I bring 5-10 colour photocopies of my passport photo/info page and always have one with me if I leave the digs for a trip. The passport stays in the safe or somewhere safe in the room.

5-10? really?
I bet you'd feel like some gob****e if you managed too lose that many :pac:

Ken.

2Mad2BeMad wrote: »

5-10? really?
I bet you'd feel like some gob****e if you managed too lose that many :pac:

I like to be prepared.

iusedtoknow

ken wrote: »

I like to be prepared.

one of 2 rules in life

always be prepared
don't feed the bears

silja

Since you have a US DL, just bring that. Many places prefer it, they are not used to foreign passports!

iusedtoknow

silja wrote: »

Since you have a US DL, just bring that. Many places prefer it, they are not used to foreign passports!

That's what I'm thinking - though the wife is obsessed with the idea that we're going to be abandoned in a jail cell in Utah for not having our passports with us. (we're taking the train across country).

I suppose it won't hurt to have them on us, but I'd rather leave them tucked safely in our safe at home.

coylemj

I believe it's difficult if not impossible for undocumented immigrants to get a driver's licence in the US so having a driving licence will effectively prove that you're legitimately in the country and as has been pointed out above, they're more used to looking at driver's licences than passports when asking for ID.

Showing your passport will only highlight the fact that you're a foreigner so if you don't want to attract attention, I'd show the driver's licence.

InTheTrees

I dunno. I think your wife is correct.

Yes, the California(?) drivers license will satisfy the ID requirements for Americans. And you can use it to get from SF to NY and back, and no doubt you'll pass off for americans.

But legally I think you're probably required to have your passports with you, its got your L1 visa in it doesnt it? You dont have to use it, just have it with you.

biddywiddy

I'm on a J-Visa and I have flown domestically twice. Both times, I just used my US Driver's Licence. The first time, my OH waited outside with my passport 'til I got through security, in case I was asked for it. I just didn't want to risk losing my passport and face the hassle of Visa reissue, so I preferred to leave it at home. I had no issue using the DL.

I can't comment on whether you're legally supposed to have your passport with you though.

InTheTrees

iusedtoknow wrote: »

(we're taking the train across country).

Fun. I'm a huge fan of Amtrak. We've done Minneapolis to Seattle twice now (my gf's family is in Minnesota) and its a blast.

You see parts of the country that you'd never drive through, the trains are clean and well run. And its hard to beat falling asleep in your own cabin on a train.

InTheTrees

Hmm. I guess I dont get the paranoia about losing the passport. Just bring it with you. Or photocopies at least, as Ken suggested.

I mean what if you lost your Drivers License in NY and didnt have the passport with you? You'd really be stuck.

biddywiddy

InTheTrees wrote: »

I mean what if you lost your Drivers License in NY and didnt have the passport with you? You'd really be stuck.

This is true.

Hazys

I travel on my Massachusetts Liquor ID on internal flights, I never bring my passport.

ProudDUB

There is absolutely no reason at all, why an Irish citizen, who is in the US legally, would have to have their passport on them when they are traveling within the US. Your govt issued photo ID/drivers license will be fine. Your wife is being overly paranoid for no good reason. But weigh up her having peace of mind, versus up the hassle of getting your passport replaced if it gets lost or stolen on the trip & you have your answer on what to do.

InTheTrees

ProudDUB wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason at all, why an Irish citizen, who is in the US legally, would have to have their passport on them when they are traveling within the US. Your govt issued photo ID/drivers license will be fine. Your wife is being overly paranoid for no good reason.

Really?

As a twenty year green card holder I know I have to use my Green Card when traveling within the USA. The law says so. So it really doesnt make sense that short term visa holders are let loose within the USA just using just Drivers licenses.

This is from Duke Universities instructions to (Student) Visa Holders:

"Under U.S. law, you are required to register and to carry your registration document(s) with you at all times. In particular, you need to remember to carry these documents if you travel domestically inside the U.S. "

http://www.visaservices.duke.edu/TravelWithinUS.html#q3

I could be wrong. The above example is for Students. But I'd imagine a L-1 is similar. If you can find something on the homeland security site that says otherwise then that's fine. Or you could ask the Immigration Officer at the airport when you arrive.

Or. Just bring the passport with you.

StompToWork

This reminds me of when I was seeing a girl who lived in Nashville, TN. She was English, but moved there with her parents when she was 12. We started going out when we were 19, and I went over to meet her one summer. We went on a road trip, and stopped in a gas station for fuel and supplies, including cigarettes. She went in for the fags, but came out without them. She said that the clerk had asked her for ID to prove her age. She happened to have her Passport on her, and produced that. The response from the clerk was "I'm sorry Ma'am, I can't accept that. That there 'aint a Tennessee ID"!!!

We laughed, and drove onto the next gas station!!

spideog7

ProudDUB wrote: »

There is absolutely no reason at all, why an Irish citizen, who is in the US legally, would have to have their passport on them when they are traveling within the US. Your govt issued photo ID/drivers license will be fine. Your wife is being overly paranoid for no good reason. But weigh up her having peace of mind, versus up the hassle of getting your passport replaced if it gets lost or stolen on the trip & you have your answer on what to do.

To get on the plane and go through the airport for a domestic flight you only need a valid government issued photo ID, so drivers licence or state ID is fine. I've been on plenty of flights travelling with just my drivers licence

However you can be asked to produce your visa and supporting documentation and legally you're supposed to have it with you at all times. But technically that also includes going to work, going out to the pub etc and let's be honest who does that?! If you want to bring it with you then by all means do but there's no requirement to actually use it as a travel document and you'll get less hassle with a drivers licence.

spideog7

InTheTrees wrote: »

As a twenty year green card holder I know I have to use my Green Card when traveling within the USA. The law says so.

Not true, you are supposed to have it with you, but you don't have to use it as your ID.

coylemj

InTheTrees wrote: »

Or you could ask the Immigration Officer at the airport when you arrive.

But he won't meet any immigration officer as he's arriving on a domestic flight - nobody will ask to see any documents when he lands. I appreciate that the rules may say that he has to carry his green card or passport or whatever when travelling but if he lands in NYC off a domestic flight from California, he's not going to meet any kind of official when he lands. All he needs is something to prove that he is the person named on his boarding card to flash at the TSA agent or boarding clerk in the airport he's departing from and the driver's licence will do that.

If he doesn't carry his passport when going down to his local 7-11 to buy a pint of milk, I don't see why he needs to bring it with him when flying to NYC.

InTheTrees

coylemj wrote: »

But he won't meet any immigration officer as he's arriving on a domestic flight - nobody will ask to see any documents when he lands.

I was assuming that he hadnt arrived in the USA yet to start his L-1, given his lack of knowledge about the req's of the Visa.

I kind of assumed it would come with some instructions. My GC came with a little book...



As regards his trip to NY, they're taking the train.

InTheTrees

coylemj wrote: »

If he doesn't carry his passport when going down to his local 7-11 to buy a pint of milk, I don't see why he needs to bring it with him when flying to NYC.

Except The americans dont have the same laissez faire attitude as back home.

If the OP was dark skinned and spending time in some areas of southern california where Immigration dept raids are common then he would indeed need to have his documentation with him whenever he's out and about.

coylemj

InTheTrees wrote: »

If the OP was dark skinned and spending time in some areas of southern california where Immigration dept raids are common then he would indeed need to have his documentation with him whenever he's out and about.

That had occurred to me but on the basis that he's a pale-skinned Paddy, it's highly unlikely he will be pulled over and asked to prove that he's legally in the US.

ProudDUB

InTheTrees wrote: »

Really?

As a twenty year green card holder I know I have to use my Green Card when traveling within the USA. The law says so. So it really doesnt make sense that short term visa holders are let loose within the USA just using just Drivers licenses.

I was green card holder for many years too. I was never once, in a single situation, where I needed to have it on me when I was traveling. My US drivers license was all I ever needed to board a plane, get thru a security check points, enter a govt building etc etc. Sometimes, I had to produce the green card, when I was applying for jobs, or apartment hunting, or opening bank accounts...the kind of things where you have to prove that you are entitled to live and work in the US legally. The OP won't be in any of those situations.

The only time that I would have considered having it on me would be if I was spending any amount of time in Arizona. The good folks there are in the news a lot for bringing in legislation mandating that foreign workers having to have their immigration documentation on them at all times. If you are stopped anywhere within the state, you risk being put in jail if you don't have proof on you that you are in the US legally. They say it is just a matter of ordinary policing, but anyone with half a brain, knows it is intended to catch Mexicans who are there illegally. I am having a hard time seeing how the OP could be caught out in one of those traps.

Since the Patriot Act came into play, you have to jump through a lot more hoops to get a drivers license, including proving your legal status in the country. As the OP has a US drivers license, that should be enough to keep anyone who asks happy.

InTheTrees

ProudDUB wrote: »

I was green card holder for many years too. I was never once, in a single situation, where I needed to have it on me when I was traveling.
As the OP has a US drivers license, that should be enough to keep anyone who asks happy.

Ah...so your advice to the OP would be that even though the law says you need to have your visa documentation on you, you've never been required to produce it so he and his wife should be fine on a cross country train trip?

Is that right?

Oh wait...unless he's spending time in Arizona?? Is there anywhere else?

InTheTrees

To review...

Legally you should bring the passport with the Visa in it but you can use the Drivers license for ID.

MadsL

coylemj wrote: »

I believe it's difficult if not impossible for undocumented immigrants to get a driver's licence in the US.

New Mexico for one issues to undocumented so they can get auto insurance. We are one of the states where the Federal Govt is saying our driving licences will be no good for domestic travel in future and that those States will need to have passports to travel domestically. New Mexicans are naturally telling the Federal Govt to pick a finger.

ProudDUB

InTheTrees wrote: »

Ah...so your advice to the OP would be that even though the law says you need to have your visa documentation on you, you've never been required to produce it so he and his wife should be fine on a cross country train trip?

Is that right?

Oh wait...unless he's spending time in Arizona?? Is there anywhere else?

Nope. Just Arizona. Next question?

iusedtoknow

So I compromised, took along the passport on the condition she guarded it.

So far haven't been asked for anything except drivers license on train and hotel.

I will not say to " I told you so" but I will probably make the " I told you so" face