Passport question for our Canadian posters

I was under the impression that passports had to be valid for 90 days after the point of entry for most countries. How long does it usually take to receive a marriage certificate nowadays? Where I live, in Ontario, you can obtain a passport with next day pick up in an emergency, I don't know if the same applies to NY state.

My guess is that they may not let her embark on the ship. I've seen cases like this. See cruisecritic.com for some stories on this. You shouldn't take any chances; just do the expedited process.

Yes, it does say 'valid at time of entry' on the state website, which is unusual. The Canadian government website adds even more lax rules: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/ivc-rnc-eng.html
One thing to remember, once you step on Canadian soil there's a good chance you may not want to go back to the USA.

I have no idea how long the certificate takes these days. I will advise her to expidite the renewal if she wants to wait for the name change or mail it asap and change the name later. I agree with you though, better safe then sorry......
Last time we went to Canada, to Quebec in April 2016, we thought we were going in the Spring but realized after our first 20 minutes it was still winter. Will let you know if it is any better in July!

It should be better in July, it's the month with the least amount of snow.

https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/services/expedited.html

The "in a hurry page", in case you have not already found it

Joe, thank you for the link, sometimes you can't find them yourself.

Gundersen, thanks for the info, i will take snowshoes off my packing list!

Someone else mentioned not to forget to let the cruise company know about the name change. So many little details. This one week trip with 6 adults and 2 children is causing me more headaches then 6 weeks in Europe with just my husband and me.

Ask the cruise line what their requirements are. Since they will be the ones deciding who gets on the boat or not, their rules are most important for this.

Second would be Canada. They have very lax passport requirements as you noted and depending on what you read into it, the passport could expire while you were in Canada and they wouldn't care (but I wouldn't take that chance). I think she would be OK< but then I'm not a Canadian border control officer so my opinion doesn't really mean anything. :-)

Your daughter could also renew her passport now using her pre marriage name. As long as all travel is booked with a name that matches the name on the passport, there would be no issue. Then after the trip apply for a name change with the passport office. No fees for the change if it is for a marriage. This approach might also remove a few stress points in your pre-trip preparations because then no name changs on the already booked travel would be needed.

Gundersen,

The period of validity depends on the country you are going to and usually corresponds to what requirement the US has placed on visitors from that country.

Most of Europe now requires your passport to be valid for 90 days beyond your expected departure from the EU (not arrival) because the US has placed similar requirements on EU citizens. Canada and Mexico both have the same "valid on entry" requirement.

We decided to go with her maiden name and renew the passport now. Because she has to change her driver's lic, Social Security card, work info, professional licenses, etc it is too stressful to do so now. She has no trips planned for the rest of the year so she will do all upon our return.

Thanks everyone for your input. As we all know, stress is not good and most of the time it can be avoided if you sit back and think for a minute. Or if you have this great forum to make you sit back and think for a minute.

Under what name did she book the cruise tickets? Are any air tickets involved? What about her drivers' license? Lots to think about. The cruise ship line is maybe your best source of information.

Is this a roundtrip cruise from Seattle?

Forgot about the airline tickets......thanks for reminding me. We are going in and out of Seattle

Hey guys, Victoria is south of the 49th parallel and is the Banana belt of Canada. Admittedly we had a bad winter this year with snow staying on the ground for days at a time, but usually our precipitation is rain - think Seattle weather but not so wet. It has been around 25C this past week. Now Alaska could be another story.......

Barbara,

It sounds like you've got the problem sorted. Using your daughter's maiden name during this trip is probably the easiest solution.

As mentioned in previous posts, these are the "official" rules.....

"Passport valid at the time of entry. Canadian law requires that all persons entering Canada carry both proof of citizenship and proof of identity. A valid U.S. passport, passport card, or NEXUS card satisfies these requirements for U.S. citizens."

You'll definitely need the Passport for re-entering the U.S.

One final point to mention is that hopefully no one in your party has any "legal history", even a DUI, as that can be a reason for denied entry. When CBSA officers ask travellers about any criminal records, they already know the answer (shared database between the U.S. and Canada).

Aside from that, I hope you have a great time in Victoria. It's a beautiful city with lots to see. Hopefully we'll have a government by then.