All expats know the necessity of having a passport book.1 What few know, though, is that there are times you can, and should, travel without your passport book and other times when you should travel with both your passport book and a passport card. Whether you’re an expat island-hopping the Caribbean, a businessperson in Asia, or a family traveling in Europe, discover how a little passport book can keep you safe and sound on your journey.
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What a passport card is
The US, and perhaps other countries too, issues two kinds of passports: a passport book and a passport card.2 If you’re not familiar with the $30 passport card, you can read more at the US State Department’s site, but the basic difference is that a passport card can be used only at U.S. land/sea borders with countries bordering the U.S., whereas the passport book can be used worldwide and for international air travel.3
Why you should get a passport card
If the passport card can only be used in a few situations, why would you want to get one? I’m glad you asked. Here are six reasons you should get one:
1. A passport card is official US government ID
A passport book and a card are both official ID, but there are often times when you may need to prove your ID but don’t have your passport book with you. This happened to me just this morning. My host government has my passport book to process a new visa, but I had to verify my identity with my U.S. bank to unfreeze my bank account. This would have been disastrous to wait a week to unfreeze my account after my passport book came back, but it was easy to solve because I still had my passport card.
In addition, if your passport book were lost or stolen, a passport card will make it much easier to enter a US embassy, prove your identity, and replace your passport book than showing up without an ID. It’s a great backup to have for just $30.
2. A passport card is ID without an address
As an expat, maintaining a US address can be cumbersome and often your mailing address won’t match your address on your driver’s license. That can be a problem on, for example, bank applications that want to see your ID. If your driver’s license address doesn’t match your mailing address, it can create complications or even cause your application to be denied. A passport card is perfect in this scenario because it is legal ID but without your address on it.
3. A passport card protects your privacy
A passport card is an easy way to protect your privacy (or the privacy of the friend/family member whose address is on your license) because you won’t expose that address anytime you use it. Further, since a passport card doesn’t contain visas or entry/exit stamps, there’s less for a US, Canadian, or Mexico customs agent to become quizzical or suspicious about when you present it for entry at a land border.
4. A passport card is valid for 10 years and is easily renewed
Most expats use their driver’s license as a backup form of ID, and that’s great, but driver’s licenses often have to be renewed, are difficult or impossible to renew while overseas and, even when they can be renewed, don’t ship internationally. Passport cards, though, are easily applied for and renewed through US embassies worldwide.
In addition, a passport card is valid for 10 years for adults and 5 years for children under 16, which is longer than most driver’s licenses. Since you’re renewing your passport book anyway, you might as well pay $30 and get a passport card at the same time. It’s a superior way to get a backup ID.
5. A passport card reduces your risk
A passport card reduces your risk because, unlike a passport book, it’s small, concealable, and contains no visas. So, for example, let’s say you go back to the US for a vacation and decide to go on a Caribbean cruise. If you took your passport book and it got lost or stolen, you’d lose any active visa and would have to go through the hassle of replacing them. A passport card, though, enables you to take the trip and keep safe your passport book and its visas. And since a passport card is easy to conceal, it’s less likely to be stolen in the first place.
Another way a passport card reduces your risk is that it is an official ID you can send in the mail at reduced risk. If you need to ship an ID in the mail, you could send your passport book but it could be lost (with its visas) and you probably don’t want to be without your passport book for any extended amount of time. But having a passport card means you can keep your passport book with you, yet still mail your ID.
Why would you need to ship off ID? There are a variety of possible scenarios, but I’ve twice needed to do this when applying for social security numbers for my children born overseas. The Federal Benefits Unit requires that I mail in my and my son’s passport as proof of identity, but I don’t dare do that. I could take a trip to the US embassy and make certified copies of our passports, but that requires a 3+ hour plane trip, possibly an overnight stay, and is just a hassle. Instead, I send in my and my son’s passport cards. I kept my passport books with me and, if they had been lost in the mail, I’d only be out $60. That’s far cheaper than plane tickets to get certified copies made.
6. A passport card provides safety in a crazy scenarios
For most of us, these scenarios are unrealistic, but they have happened and a $30 card protects you from them. There was a man, who shall rename nameless, who was traveling in an unnamed South America country. The police in this country are notoriously corrupt and targeted him as a foreigner for a bribe. They stopped him on a trumped-up charge and seized his passport book; they said that to get his passport back, he had 24 hours to pay an exorbitant “fine” or else he’d be jailed for 6 months.
Fortunately, he had a passport card, so he could enter the U.S. at any land border. He chartered a boat and was able to flee the South American country and arrive safely at a US land border, where his card gave him entry. The corrupt police thought that seizing his passport was enough leverage to make him pay the bogus “fine”, but his passport card got him out of the sticky situation.
Now, most of us won’t be in a situation like that, but a simple passport card gives you redundancy. If you were in a crazy scenario like this, a $30 card could keep your family safe. At $30, it’s one of the cheapest insurance policies you can get.
How to get a passport card
Follow the directions on the US State Department website. The process is almost identical to getting a passport book and can be done at the same time if you’re applying for a passport.
Conclusion
If you’re already overseas, you typically have three options: 1) mail in an application if your U.S. embassy supports that, 2) apply at the U.S. embassy, 3) apply at a ‘town hall’ event that U.S. embassies sometimes hold in non-embassy locations.
If you already have to visit a US embassy or apply for a passport already, then it’s a no-brainer to get the passport card at the same time. If not, you’ll have to decide if a passport card is worth an extra trip, but there are good reasons to get a card at some point.
Want other tips on renewing your passport? Make sure to check out Flight of the Passports: Navigating the Chaos of Passport Renewal.
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Footnotes:
- If you don’t…um, definitely subscribe to this blog because there’s probably a ton you need to learn. ↩︎
- These terms refer specifically to US passport books & passport cards. You may not be a US citizen, but you may find that your country has something similar to the US passport card, along with many of its benefits. So, even if you’re not a US citizen, this may be worth browsing in order to see if there’s something that has equivalent benefits from your passport country. ↩︎
- Specifically: Canada, Mexico, Caribbean countries, & Bermuda. See more at the State Department site. ↩︎
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