Passport needed?

[Wristshot]

. . . . if you're a US Citizen or a PRA.

Or a dumb $$$, but how would you "prove" that you are a US citizen if they asked you to?

I once had two friends (coworkers) that visited Mexico by car. Upon return, the Mexican citizen was allowed to re-enter the USA with his green card (which is not green BTW). The US citizen was stopped and detained for a couple hours as he was not able to prove that he was a US citizen. That was many years before 9-11, and it was a foreign country but still . . . .

I assume that the vast majority of people have no problem visiting Hawaii without a passport and without a worry. Like traveling anywhere via air, you will need some form of picture ID. A passport is a very good one (in most situations)

Having a passport is a good idea IMHO. Consider the risk-reward measure. For anyone (especially divers) that don't have a passport, I would recommend getting one. Get one now before you need it; before you get invited on that great trip out of the country. Before your company decides to send someone out of the country, and that idiot in the next cubicle gets to go because he has a passport already!


Wristshot

 

[DennisW]

You absolutely do not need a passport to travel to Hawaii. No need to be nasty people, just answer the man's question.

 

[Damselfish]

Or a dumb $$$, but how would you "prove" that you are a US citizen if they asked you to?

On a flight from mainland US to Hawaii, or back, it just doesn't matter. You're already in the country. Doesn't matter if you live in the US to begin with, or had come in through immigration elsewhere in the US.

Going to Mexico without some kind of proof, even years ago, now that just seems like a bad idea. Whereever you go, doesn't matter how easy it was to get in, you still gotta get back in here!

 

[normantr]

No need to be nasty people, just answer the man's question.

I don't think anyone was being nasty, just a little harmless fun. :smileysto

 

[DennisW]

Could be, I thought it got to be a bit much. Maybe I'm being a bit stormy today.

 

[DTB1981]

I just got a passport a couple of years ago just after 9-11. It takes 2-3 months to get it and you have to send them your birth certificate I believe they are $95 now. But if you live near San Francisco where they process them you can get one same day or next day for an additional $50

 

[justleesa]

If Hawaii is part of the USofA then what the heck is that language they're speaking????

eh brah, you know. da'kine...pigeon kine

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

eh brah, you know. da'kine...pigeon kine

Aaaah, da'kine pigeon.

We went into a shop and met a teenager who we honestly could no understand. I said huh more times than when I visit a gun range. Actually I felt sorry for him.

 

[justleesa]

When I moved here I didn't know it included having to learn a whole new language! I easily fall into a different dialect or slang. One day a woman called to sign up for some diving and then when I met her on the boat she was surprised that I am white and blond "You sound so local!"...imagine that?

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Lots of posts in this thread seem to be having at least a little fun with the original question. OK I can understand that, after all Hawaii is part of the United States. However I recently went from my home in Virginia (last time I checked this was part of the United States) to the island of St. Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. Now, St Croix is most certainly part of the United States, although it is not a state proper. The people who live there are citizens of the same country that I am. On the return journey from St. Croix to Virginia I did have to clear US customs and provide my passport as proof of citizenship. In light of this I don't think the original question was unreasonable.

My flight was from Richmond to Miami to St. Croix, and the return trip was exactly the reverse. I did not leave the country of my birth, so perhaps soon we will need "papers" to travel from state to state or even simply out of our home county or city.

What I do think is unreasonable is needing my passport to clear customs to travel from the US Virgin Islands to the US mainland.

Mark Vlahos