Traveling with Your Birth Certificate

When traveling, it’s essential to have your travel documents, including your Orange County birth certificate with you in a safe place. In addition to ensuring your travel documents are safe, it’s also important to ensure they are easy for you to access when you’re asked for them. Although a birth certificate is not essential for travel, there are some instances where it can be a good idea to have it.

Should You Travel with a Birth Certificate Instead of a Passport?

Adults don’t necessarily have to have their birth certificate when traveling; typically, all that’s required is a passport. However, if you are traveling with children, ensuring their birth certificates are with you could make a world of difference.

Laws for Traveling with Children

Children 16 years or under arriving in the United States from Mexico or Canada via sea or air must present one of the following upon their arrival:

• Birth certificate
• Naturalization certificate
• Consular Report of Birth Abroad
  

 
Air travel ID requirements for most major airlines are that any children traveling by air under the age of 18 must have proof of their ages. This also applies to infants under two years of age. Many airline policies will require children who are two years of age or older to purchase a seat at the adult fare and will require you to prove with your children’s birth certificates that they are under two years of age. Even if your children are obviously infants, without their birth certificates, you will have to purchase an adult seat.

Keeping Travel Documents Safe and Accessible

The best way to ensure that your travel documents are safe from loss or theft is to make copies of them. This includes your driver’s license, birth certificate, passport, credit cards, and visa. These documents should ideally be copied, both in black and white and in color, and then each copied document stored in its color or black and white bundle. Having copies can assist you greatly if you need to travel to an embassy to obtain new documents.
 
It’s a good idea to bring either the color or black and white set of copies with you when traveling, and when storing them in the hotel safe. Your original documents should always be carried with you, whether in an inside pocket or travel wallet or inside a money belt. Any means of carrying documents should be waterproof; a good idea is to place your right to travel documents in a plastic zip bag before putting them in a wallet, pocket, or belt.

Lost Your Birth Certificate? Replace It Today

Losing your birth certificate can mean trouble while traveling. Not having this important document can end up costing much more than you intended to spend. If your birth certificate were to be stolen, it would be important to replace it as soon as possible to prevent identity theft. FastBirthCertificates can help you get a legal birth certificate replacement quickly and easily. Contact us to learn more.