Will a drivers licence be enough to enter and exit Puerto Rico?

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The "L" Word

You friend won't be deported at all! The airline and airport security will be the only ones checking your ID when you are at the airport. Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. Commonwealth, and flights to/from the mainland are treated as domestic flights, you won't go through passport control in San Juan (or Aguadilla or Ponce). When at the airport in Puerto Rico, you will only go through standard FDA agricultural customs which your bag will be scanned for any plants,animals, soils being transported that can harm U.S. crops, and then you will be allowed to check in for your flight. Upon arrival in the U.S. you will exit the plane and walk to baggage claim as if you were flying from one U.S. city to another. Your friend will need a passport if she is planning on traveling to the US Virgin Islands (they have U.S. passport/ID control because they are a territory) and/or any other surrounding island in the region. If you plan on sailing around Puerto Rico it is best to have a passport because there is a chance U.S. Coast Guard can stop your ship if they feel that it is being used for drug running (this happens a lot along the western and southern coast of the island).

My friend is not a U.S. citizen and he used his New Jersey driver's license to travel to Puerto Rico. He didn't need to bring his Mexican passport for hsi trip. He encountered NO problems.

yankee_sailor

traveling to and from Puerto Rico from the 50 states is no different than traveling from Boston to San Fransisco. as PR ( and the US Virgin Islands) are US Territories......see www.travel.state.gov for the full explanation........

HOWEVER.......your friend doesn't have a passport? Is not a US citizen? So she doesn't have a green card or a visa or any official permission to be in the USA?
She will 100% for sure be arrested and deported...after spending some time in jail.....and the officials are little more careful to look at people traveling through PR as it is an entry point for illegal aliens from the Caribbean and even Chinese smuggled into the island.....so if your friend might fit a profile.....ie is Asian, looks Hispanic, acts nervous going past security.............she has an excellent chance of getting questioned........

Raimon

For US citizens, a drivers license is enough, but she should be careful, since the INS does check for illegal aliens here. She should carry her Green Card or some other evidence that she's living legally in the US.

scorpionitty

Do not get alarmed by all previous responses. When you travel within the United States you only need a state issued ID to check in at the airport with the airline counter and to go through security. That is going from Texas to Florida, Cali to New York, Ohio to Puerto Rico... in other words state ID is all you need for a domestic flight. Which traveling from US to PR is considered a domestic flight.

If the Cali driver's license is valid and real, there is nothing to worry!

Have fun in PR! You will love it!

shinningstarofthecarribean

Yes she Might be deported by the Immigration Officer..it all depends on how go she can fake being a US Citizen...

When a Non Immigrant travels they need a Passport and their Visa from their Original Country.

If she is a Legal Resident That's Another Story...all She needs is her ARC Card (green Card) to travel from State to State...

CCORRA

Flights between Puerto Rico and the US are domestic flights and you need only provide proof of identity at the airline counters. But there are 2 counters she needs to clear... She'll probably have absolutely no issue getting to PR

Now, going back to the mainland is something a little different. No passports are required for US citizens. However, there is always a risk involved (as I'm sure there was when she went to Alaska and Hawaii) that she would be required some proof of legal status in the US. From what you're saying, she is an undocumented alien in the US.

Having said that, and knowing my fellow Puerto Rican airline counter employees, if she has a CA driver's license and could pass for American she will probably have no problem getting back to the mainland.

stella39

No, your friend needs something to say she can legally be in the USA and territories of the USA. They will detain her. You need a birth certificate and photo ID to go to any US territories outside the 50 states. I think they will jail her and deport her.
Good Luck

Dr. Mike

I believe you need a passport from the US. Call the Department of State and ask them. You can search them on the internet. Usually travel agents would know also... try calling a local one.

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