Hi, hopefully we will be going to Florida this year for our holidays. We won't be going until October. I have a current 10 year passport which is due to expire July 07, my husband will need to renew his. My 7 year old daughter's passport will require renewal in Jun 06 and we will need to apply for one for our 2 year old. Do we all require VISAs and do we need any other documentation?
Many thanks
Hi Bella
None of you will require visas as long as your 2 year olds and your husbands are issued before Oct 26th this year (which if I remember rightly you are going in Oct so you should have their passports before then).
The new regulation coming into force on Oct 26th applies to NEW passports issued after that date (if they dont carry biometric info then a visa is required).
Babblin Boo
Assuming you are all British you will not require visas and can enter under the Visa Waiver programme(VWP) - you fill in forms given to you at the airport.
That said you must ensure that you fully meet all the conditions for entry under the VWP. There are threads on this site that give the detail. However the main condition which causes problem is if you have ever been arrested. This applies however long ago this was and regardless of being found guilty or even charged. Note that the operative word is 'arrested' - minor traffic offences that did not result in an arrest are OK - even if you were convicted.
The only other form is a customs declaration form again given to you at the airport or on the plane - one per family.
If you are thinking of going again in 2006 I would renew your daughter's - the one one which expires in June 2006 - before October aswell. It is over cautious perhaps but if the UK passport office doesn't get its biometric passport system up and running by 2006 (which on past experience it may well not) then anyone getting a new passport after 26th October 2005 will need a visa to travel to the US. If you renew your daughter's passport this year you will avoid any risk of this.
Angela
Thank you for all your replies! I am thinking that I may even renew my one as well, as it expires in 2007 and it will available for another 10 years and save me the hassle in a couple of years time. We live in Edinburgh and in order to get a Visa you need to travel to London to get it in person.
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:We live in Edinburgh and in order to get a Visa you need to travel to London to get it in person[/quote]
Or Belfast
It seems ridiculous doesn't it? Here we have our own Parliament, but we have to travel to neighbouring countries to get a Visa!! Sorry off-topic![:O]
Bella
If you time it right you wont lose too much time off your daughters passport as you can renew any time and up to nine months validity can be added to the new one so if you applied in around Aug this year will only lose a couple of months and her new one will be valid for 10 years and 9 months. You'll lose a bit more on yours but as you say it will be worth it , especially as the rest of the family will all be ok so you'd be the only one who needed to get a vise if the biometrics arent in place.
Babblin Boo
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