Do I really need a passport?

["Henry" 109]

There are different lanes to drive across the border, at least in Tijuana, depending on the documentation you have.

Sentri Lane

Ready Lane

All Lanes

Sentri lane (the quickest way to cross into the U.S.)

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-traveler-programs/sentri

Ready Lane (not as fast as Sentri, but way faster than All Lanes)

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1210/~/ready-lane---radio-frequency-identification-(rfid)

All lanes

If you do not have a passport, you have to go thru these lanes. No exception! The wait to get across is at least twice as long and you run the risk that the agent is in a bad mood, sends you to secondary inspection and you lose half an hour, or more.

Do you want to miss your flight and have to pay hundreds of dollars to reschedule?

Or, pay the $55 dollars to get the passport card and go across with time to spare?

One other thing, with BariatricPal, if you have a passport card, you are taken to the airport 4 hours prior to your flight and we use a special medical lane to get you across quicker than the regular Ready Lane.

If you do not have a passport card, you are taken to the airport 6 hours prior to your flight and go thru All Lanes.

Please consider applying for the Passport Card.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/card.html

Thank you

[WitchySar 244]

Thank you for clearing that all up. I think even if I end up not needing to go to Mexico I should look into getting a passport.

[highfunctioningfatman 2,675]

Just as an aside..my passport photo is from 2010 and believe me...the officers at the border always have to take a long look as the picture no longer looks like me. I went to London last summer and it was my first trip oversees since I lost the weight and oh boy, do I look different.

My boss had the surgery last August. I never saw her as a big woman. She is one of those women who looked beautiful with her curves. We were talking on Friday and she mentioned that she keeps getting the full pat down going through security at every airport in the last couple months and she thinks that it is because she looks nothing like her driver's license. It was issued last July and OMG she looks like a completely different person.

[B-52 7,113]

We go to Cancun every Feb. and need a passport....

BTW, since this is a weight loss forum, I needed to renew mine years before the expiration date because of all thew weight I lost.

Got tired of being scrutinized, having the supervisor called over, getting cross-examined.

There is nothing they have not heard or seen, but still ask a lot of questions to be certain.

It always ends in a "Congratulations, good for you"

I travel out of the country several times a year.

[alishaSD 3]

Will an expired passport, a drivers license and a birth certificate be enough? My surgery is in 5 days so I don't really have time to renew.

Also, are there other people in the van when the pick you up from the airport? Just curious

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[KristenLe 5,980]

@@alishaSD I think you will need a valid passport. How fast can you get it renewed?

[CLN.BK 165]

Will an expired passport, a drivers license and a birth certificate be enough? My surgery is in 5 days so I don't really have time to renew.

Also, are there other people in the van when the pick you up from the airport? Just curious

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I just came back nearly two weeks ago with the exact same documents: expired passport, DL, and BC. I gave them the DL and BC and explained that my passport had expired 5 years ago. It wasn't a problem, nor were we delayed. We had a medical pass and went through around 8am on a Tuesday.

I *think* you can potentially get a passport card within 5 days, but I was too lazy to do it.

[shedo82773 1,236]

My hubby went to Juarez Mexico for his WLS. At the airport I showed my Driver's License and due to having lost (with my RNY in July 2013) and the guard kept looking at my DL and then at me. $ times he said how good I looked. Then when I went thru the customs I had my X-rays showing that I had rods in my back. They didn't even look at them but when I went thru their machine it started flashing. They ask me if I had anything on me that was medal, which I had already told them that I had rods in my back I had no pockets but they patted me down anyway!! They made us throw away our Water and our Protein drinks. I feel like I could have made a stink because my hubby was doing his preop and I was a WL patient but let me tell you when you have to find stuff for a WLS person it is very hard to find stuff we can have. Incidentally, coming back into the States from Mexico they checked our baggage both in and out of Mexico and took our Passports and checked all of our medications. If you take prescriptions you will need to have them all in your prescription bottles.< /p>

Just a heads up. BTW going into Mexico they have guards with guns.

[Nerdgrl 61]

You need a full passport if you fly into Mexico and can get away with the passport card if you are driving. At the San Diego / TJ border, you don't need any documentation to get into Mexico but do need at least a passport card to get back into the US. I was in TJ two weeks ago and had zero trouble coming back into the US in the medical lane!

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