Sorry Ambassador but you are wrong - Passports not required if you arrive by water 🙂

Pia

as long as you are traveling by boat, you can visit the BVI from St John --- passports not required.
We just left STT and went to the BVIs on a charter boat with our original birth certificates and photo id

Oh well. Just passing on what the STT/STJ CBP Officer in Charge has stated. Since he is retiring soon, maybe his subordinates do not care until 01 January 2008.

Wow! This sure opened up a can of worms, SORRY. Guess we had better hope that our passports get here, I am totally confused.
mricci

HAHA I am totallly confused as welll! Omigosh. So here's my final situation-----> I have a passport...boyfriend has birth cert and lisence...We were goin to take the ferry from STT to Jost one day....so my question----I think he can get into the BVIs with no PP but can he get back into the USVIs with no passport...lol ?! We are leaving May 19th...Thanks everyone 🙂

Yes on both accounts

HEY ALL!
Good news on the homefront. 2 more passports came today, now all we need is 2 more.I will keep you posted on the count. Less than 4 weeks now!
Mricco

Yes no problem. I misplaced my passport recently and took 3 trips to Jost van Dyke with NO PROBLEM with a license AND birth certificate. Happily I have found my passport now, damn those hidden pockets in my beach bag.

That is sad Ambassador got misinformation from a CBP officer. This is why everyone in the USVI is collectively banging their heads against the wall. Tourism is down here and it should be UP, but airline employees, CBP (Customs Border Patrol), etc all the way down don't know what they are talking about.

I had a father of a bride recently tell me he was almost denied boarding coming to STT, meaning also missing his daughters wedding, because he only had a drivers license. Thankfully he knew better and some other people in line also knew better and jumped to his defense.

It blows my mind people in the "industry' have no idea whatsoever what they are talking about.

Thanks for the info! It is very odd and scary that the authorities may be ignorant to the passport situation. Hopefully we will be alright! and good luck to everyone else! 10 days and countingg ahhhH! im so excited!

Ok i got a question here....I do not have my passport, but I do have my birth certificate and liscense, however, I just got married. My birth certificate has my old last name and my liscense has my new last name. How does that work??? Do I just need to bring my marriage liscense with me too? Any advice would be great....thanks so much

Yes you will need your marrage lic.

You will need a birth certificate not just a drivers license to get out of the USVI. I know as the person in front of me just had driver's license he was told he need either passport or birth certificate to get back into the states period.

I'm leaving for St. John in the end of June-applied for my daughters passport on March 5 and still it is not in their system! 🙁 I hope it comes by then!!!!!!

Ok folks......
Ambassador is giving bad info.
First of all, a United States citizen may not be denied re-entry to the United States. If no documents are available it may delay your re-entry but not deny it.
Second, the WHTI or Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative is still in the process of being implemented.
Phase three of the WHTI was implemented in January of this year. Phase three of the initiative included the requirement that all persons, including United States Citizens, travelling to the United States (this includes USVI) from foriegn lands by air, will be required to present passports upon inspection by a U.S. Customs Officer (me).
The catch is that U.S. Customs doesn't need to worry about this, because it requires the airlines to pay a fine for every person they deliver without a passport. So you will not get on the plane from a foriegn land bound for the United States because the airlinhes are not willing to pay these fines...they do occaisionally slip up, but at $3300.00 per slip up, its rare.
The final phase of the WHTI is (until it is changed again:) ) will go into effect January of 2008. The final phase is the one that requires all land and sea ports to require passports.
As of right now to travel to the BVI you are only required to carry goverment issued identification and a birth certificate if you are a citizen of the United States.
Please stop worrying about this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and it is a violation of your civil rights as a citizen of the United States to be unlawfully refused entry and when the lawsuit is settled, please remember me:)
Officer"J"

Oh, Giddyup.....if you have ever passed through Cyrel E King Airport in St. Thomas, you know that the large video screen to your left when you first enter the inspection area clearly states both on audio and video that Passports are "preferred but not required".
The reason they are preferred is that when a person presents a birth cert and ID, all the info must me typed into the computer and a passport can be "swiped" through the passport reader and saves about 20 seconds per traveller....and that can add to a lot of time on a busy day.

"J"
I think a lot of the posts regarding this forum are about travel to BVI. What can you tell us about that if you ge there by water? We are all clear about going to the USVI and whats required.
Mricco

The information I just gave you is for travel from anywhere by boat.
If you are on a cruise ship departing from Miami (assuming you are a U.S. Citizen ).....make a stop in St. Maarten or Anguilla or any foriegn country, and return to any United States Port....you are still only required to present a government issued ID and birth certificate....Again, the final phase of WHTI will be in effect at earliest, subject to more extentions by congress, in January of 2008. Until then, travel by water, whether by commercial carrier or private vessel for U.S. citizens will not require a passport.

Anywhere in the Western Hemisphere that is....

An update.....mine arrived last Thursday, 1 day short of 4 weeks. I utilized expedited processing, sent it through the main post office here (NoVa), and it never showed up for tracking on State's website.

only after 2008, right now just birth certificate and drivers license.