Talk:United States passport card

Inability to be used for air travel, standards and links with European ID cards

Does anyone know why the passport card cannot be used for international travel? The Dept. of State claims it has something to do with ICAO standard, but this arguemnt is unconvincing. I checked the statement and it is true that many other nations issue credit card sized IDs (like the US Passport Card) which can be used for international air travel.

In addition, the ICAO even issues its own guidelines concerning credit card identity documents (ICAO Document 9303, Part 3, Volume 1). The ICAO has nothing against the use and expansion of this format. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.181.126.48 (talk) 12:14, 11 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Examples: Switzerland issues credit card sized IDs which can be used for international air travel to almost all other European nations, including the UK, Ireland (not part of Schengen), countries not in the EU (Norway, Iceland), and countries outside of Europe (Turkey, Egypt). There are many other examples (Germany, Estonia, Austria, etc.)

I would say that whether or not the "cards" are valid depends less on the ICAO and more upon whether the issuing government and the government of the country to be visited accept the document for purposes of verifying identity.

You are perfectly correct, it is nothing to do with the ICAO. EU citizens can travel freely within the EU, all they need is national identity card to prove they are EU citizens. And this, by extension, applies to any non-EU countries which are in Schengen (Norway, Iceland, Switzerland). Of course, within one country you can also fly without a passport, it is up to the government and airlines to decide what identification (if any) is needed at check-in. All Intra-Schengen are handled as "domestic", there are no border controls, the identity check is a security check done at check-in.

Question: If the US card can't be used for air travel, how can you use it to get to the Caribbean or Bermuda? Is there a ferry service? TiffaF (talk) 06:45, 5 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Answer: No, but cruise ships travel to the Carribean from the United States. APS221 (talk) 07:38, 2 January 2010 (UTC)[reply]

As the "opposition" section still (after one year of being tagged) has no references, I suggest it be deleted. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jaimiethedog (talk • contribs) 11:43, 24 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Suggestion to rename article "U.S. Passport Card"

Perhaps the article should be renamed "U.S. Passport Card" to ensure that it is the world-wide view and not US-centered.

Like mentioned by anon, it seems to be the equivalent of European identity cards, so it would be logic to link them, or even merged this into identity card as it's exactly what it is. － Cy21 ➜ discuss 09:56, 25 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I agree with the renaming proposal. The passport card as such is defined in ICAO 9303 part 3 on page xvi as:

A td1-sized card which may be issued in place of, or in addition to, a passport book and which one or more receiving states agree to accept as a passport.

The also mention a specific commission on it. So this article is about the US card specifically... L.tak (talk) 11:59, 20 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Acceptance of the passport card as the proof of identity inside and outside of the USA

This is a statement supported only by the link to the US embassy in Germany, but practically such acceptance varies much among different private and even governmental entities. From my personal experience, my passport card was rejected by several banks, by a California notary and even by TSA employees. In addition, it is not accepted as a stand-alone identity document by the Washington Department of Licensing and by GRE test clerks because it does not contain a signature of the holder. Thus, stating that it can be used as a proof of identity is inaccurate. Also, it is not endorsed as a full proof of identity by the Department of State - an issuing agency. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.45.14.71 (talk) 04:03, 29 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Updated Example Photo

There is a newer and updated photo of a U.S. Passport Card example on the government's website where the previous example photo was retrieved. Found at: http://travel.state.gov/passport/ppt_card/ppt_card_3926.html

I tried to upload it but I see that the Wikimedia Commons file for the previous photo is link to a fair amount of pages. I am not experienced enough to update this photo. Does anyone have the ability to update that file with the new photo?