At a presentation I was giving before a Chamber of Commerce, I was asked if a passport was required to travel to the U.S. Virgin Islands.
No, I said. They are a part of the United States and U.S. citizens returning directly from a U.S. territory are not considered to have left the U.S. and do not need to present a passport. (U.S. territories include the following: Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Swains Island and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.)
The chamber member proceeded to tell the story of an airline employee who was not going to let him board a flight to the U.S. Virgin Islands without a passport. He was finally allowed to board, after a lengthy discussion and being asked to sign a waiver.
I came across another story,
Beware Your Passport, of a traveler with a similar experience. This traveler was not as lucky.
With the new passport regulations coming into effect in phases, with airlines that can apply their own rules, and with immigration officials who are given a broad allowance for interpreting the rules, traveling with a valid passport can reduce the stress and headaches.
