MINOR DOCUMENTS AT LAND AND SEA PORTS
Children do not always follow the same document rules as adults at land and sea ports of entry. Current CBP guidance provides special Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative rules for certain U.S. and Canadian citizen children, while Mexican citizen children remain subject to separate Mexican-national document requirements.
Current CBP guidance states that U.S. citizen children age 15 and under arriving by land or sea from Canada or Mexico may present an original or copy of a U.S. birth certificate, a Consular Report of Birth Abroad or a Naturalization Certificate.
This special child rule is for qualifying land and sea travel. Air travel has different passport requirements.
CBP states that U.S. and Canadian citizen infants traveling by land or sea can use qualifying birth documentation rather than a passport under the applicable child-document rule.
For a newborn whose official birth certificate has not yet been received, CBP guidance describes limited alternative hospital or physician documentation for land entry.
CBP states that children and infants arriving by air generally require a passport, subject to separate rules for lawful permanent residents, refugees and asylees using their applicable immigration documentation.
U.S. citizen children under 19 arriving by land or sea from Canada or Mexico with a qualifying school group, religious group, social or cultural organization or sports team can use specified citizenship documents instead of the ordinary adult passport requirement.
CBP states that the organization should provide a letter on organizational letterhead identifying the group, supervising adults and participating children and containing a signed statement from the supervising adult certifying that parental or legal guardian consent was obtained for each child.
CBP publishes related WHTI exceptions for qualifying Canadian citizen minors entering by land or sea from contiguous territory.
Current CBP guidance states that Mexican citizens, including children, generally must present the applicable Mexican-national travel documentation. A Border Crossing Card can serve as a stand-alone document only in specified direct land, ferry or pleasure-vessel travel from Mexico.
The birth-certificate exception for U.S. and Canadian children should not be generalized to Mexican citizen children.
Closed-loop cruise documentation can differ from other sea travel, and individual destination countries or cruise lines may impose additional passport requirements even where U.S. reentry rules permit another citizenship document.
Current CBP guidance permits qualifying U.S. citizen children age 15 and under arriving by land or sea from Canada or Mexico to present specified citizenship documents including an original or copy of the birth certificate.
No. Air travel generally requires a passport for U.S. citizen children and infants.
The U.S./Canadian child exception should not be applied to Mexican nationals. CBP publishes separate passport, visa and Border Crossing Card rules for Mexican citizens.
Land, sea and air rules differ, and the special U.S. and Canadian minor exceptions do not apply identically to every nationality.