Traveler's Guide on Airline Travel Document Requirements

Before making it to the plane and proceed to travel to a specific country, you would have to go through the airport checkpoint to present valid identification of your personality. And that means you have to have a valid passport or other forms of ID. In today’s blog post, Airflyby Team will break this topic so you don’t have to question whether you have to hold an ID card, driver’s license, or foreign passport to travel freely.

Depending on where you want to travel, and the citizen of what country you are, you are allowed to fly with a state issued ID, or a foreign passport. Thus, the range of travel documents to choose from for domestic flights and for international ones differs. Read on and find out which forms of ID are needed for both domestic and international air trips.

Forms of Identification Needed to Fly Within Borders of a Country

If you are a citizen of the US, you are allowed to carry a driver’s license, a state identification card (if not being permitted to drive a card), work travel permit, or other local valid forms of identification to travel within the US. All the issued travel documents have to comply with Real ID requirements. Other acceptable forms of identification are:

border-crossing cards,
passport cards,
Native American tribal ID cards,
DHS trusted traveler cards (NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST cards),
airline or airport photo ID cards compliant with TSA regulations, as well as
U.S. passport, or
U.S. passport card,
State-issued Enhanced Driver’s License,
Permanent resident card.

What comes for other countries that are permitted to travel within the US with their country’s valid identity documents?

Canadian citizens are allowed to present a valid photo identification card or a driver’s license to cross the US border.

Forms of ID and Visa Requirements for International Trips

When traveling abroad, all citizens of any country in the world have to present a valid ID at airport to be able to cross the border. Therefore, the suggested by TSA forms of ID for US citizens re-entering the US are:

U.S. passport,
DHS trusted traveler cards (Global Entry, NEXUS, SENTRI, FAST), or
Permanent Resident Card, for permanent residents of the United States.

Requirements regarding identification needed to fly internationally differ from those for re-entering the country. For instance, when American citizens travel to Europe, some countries may have travel visa requirements for crossing the borders and staying within the country. Additionally, US citizens will have to validate their identity by presenting a certain travel document.

Americans are allowed to travel abroad with a valid passport and required entry visa for specific countries.

In most cases, a valid passport is enough to travel freely across the globe. Hence, you might want to check your passport validity in order to proceed traveling abroad, as no other forms of identification are allowed to be presented at the checkpoint of airports.

REAL ID

On October 1st, 2020, a new requirement for those traveling by air will start its actions. We are talking about REAL ID compliance. Hence, you have to make sure your state-issued ID or license is compliant with REAL ID's requirements.

You can already check it if it does by noticing a star on top of your ID or license. The star's shape and color may differ depending on the state your ID or license was issued in.

If your REAL ID and state-issued enhanced driver's license have been issued in Vermont, Minnesota, Michigan, and New York states, then you can travel with those without any risks. The same applies to Washington's enhanced driver’s licenses only.

Visa Requirements for International Trips

As mentioned before, US citizens have to obtain a visa, an electronic travel authorization, or an electronic visa, before or on arrival in a certain country.

Now you can have an outlook on all countries in the world and their travel visa requirements, by following the table below:

VISA REQUIREMENTS FOR AMERICAN CITIZENS

Afghanistan - visa required
Albania - visa-free / 90 days
Algeria - visa required
Andorra - visa-free / 90 days
Angola - visa on arrival / 30 days
Antigua and Barbuda - visa-free / 180 days
Argentina - visa-free / 90 days
Armenia - visa-free / 180 days
Australia - eTA / 90 days
Austria - visa-free / 90 days
Azerbaijan - eVisa
Bahamas - visa-free / 240 days
Bahrain - visa on arrival / eVisa / 30 days
Bangladesh - visa on arrival / 30 days
Barbados - visa-free / 180 days
Belarus - visa-free / 30 days
Belgium - visa-free / 90 days
Belize - visa-free / 180 days
Benin - eVisa
Bhutan - visa required
Bolivia - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Bosnia and Herzegovina - visa-free / 90 days
Botswana - visa-free / 90 days
Brazil - visa-free / 90 days
Brunei - visa-free / 90 days
Bulgaria - visa-free / 90 days
Burkina Faso - visa on arrival / 30 days
Burundi - visa required
Cambodia - visa on arrival / eVisa / 30 days
Cameroon - visa required
Canada - visa-free / 180 days
Cape Verde - visa on arrival
Central African Republic - visa-free / 180 days
Chad - visa required
Chile - visa-free / 90 days
China - visa required
Colombia - visa-free / 90 days
Comoros - visa on arrival / 45 days
Congo - visa required
Congo (Dem. Rep.) - visa required
Costa Rica - visa-free / 90 days
Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) - pre-enrollment
Croatia - visa-free / 90 days
Cuba - tourist card / 30 days
Cyprus - visa-free / 90 days
Czech Republic - visa-free / 90 days
Denmark - visa-free / 90 days
Djibouti - eVisa
Dominica - visa-free / 180 days
Dominican Republic - visa-free
Ecuador - visa-free / 90 days
Egypt - visa on arrival / eVisa / 30 days
El Salvador - visa-free / 90 days
Equatorial Guinea - visa-free
Eritrea - visa required
Estonia - visa-free / 90 days
Eswatini - visa-free / 30 days
Ethiopia - visa on arrival / eVisa
Fiji - visa-free / 120 days
Finland - visa-free / 90 days
France - visa-free / 90 days
Gabon - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Gambia - visa on arrival
Georgia - visa-free / 360 days
Germany - visa-free / 90 days
Ghana - visa required
Greece - visa-free / 90 days
Grenada - visa-free / 90 days
Guatemala - visa-free / 90 days
Guinea - eVisa / 90 days
Guinea-Bissau - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Guyana - visa-free / 90 days
Haiti - visa-free / 90 days
Honduras - visa-free / 90 days
Hong Kong - visa-free / 90 days
Hungary - visa-free / 90 days
Iceland - visa-free / 90 days
India - eVisa
Indonesia - visa-free / 30 days
Iran - visa required
Iraq - visa required
Ireland - visa-free
Israel - visa-free / 90 days
Italy - visa-free / 90 days
Jamaica - visa-free / 120 days
Japan - visa-free / 90 days
Jordan - visa on arrival
Kazakhstan - visa-free / 30 days
Kenya - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Kiribati - visa-free / 120 days
Kosovo - visa-free / 90 days
Kuwait - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Kyrgyzstan - visa-free / 60 days
Laos - visa on arrival / eVisa / 30 days
Latvia - visa-free / 90 days
Lebanon - visa on arrival / 30 days
Lesotho - visa-free
Liberia - visa required
Libya - visa required
Liechtenstein - visa-free / 90 days
Lithuania - visa-free / 90 days
Luxembourg - visa-free / 90 days
Macao - visa-free / 30 days
Madagascar - visa on arrival / 90 days
Malawi - visa on arrival / eVisa / 30 days
Malaysia - visa-free / 90 days
Maldives - visa on arrival / 30 days
Mali - visa required
Malta - visa-free / 90 days
Marshall Islands - visa-free / 90 days
Mauritania - visa on arrival
Mauritius - visa-free / 90 days
Mexico - visa-free / 180 days
Micronesia - visa-free / 30 days
Moldova - visa-free / 90 days
Monaco - visa-free / 90 days
Mongolia - visa-free / 90 days
Montenegro - visa-free / 90 days
Morocco - visa-free / 90 days
Mozambique - visa on arrival / 30 days
Myanmar [Burma] - eVisa / 28 days
Namibia - visa-free / 90 days
Nauru - visa required
Nepal - visa on arrival / 90 days
Netherlands - visa-free / 90 days
New Zealand - eTA / 90 days
Nicaragua - visa-free / 90 days
Niger - visa required
Nigeria - pre-visa on arrival
North Korea - visa required
North Macedonia - visa-free / 90 days
Norway - visa-free / 90 days
Oman - eVisa / 30 days
Pakistan - eVisa
Palau - visa-free / 360 days
Palestinian Territories - visa-free
Panama - visa-free / 180 days
Papua New Guinea - visa on arrival / eVisa / 60 days
Paraguay - visa on arrival / 90 days
Peru - visa-free / 180 days
Philippines - visa-free / 30 days
Poland - visa-free / 90 days
Portugal - visa-free / 90 days
Qatar - visa-free / 30 days
Romania - visa-free / 90 days
Russian Federation - visa required
Rwanda - visa on arrival / 30 days
Saint Kitts and Nevis - visa-free / 180 days
Saint Lucia - visa-free / 42 days
Samoa - visa on arrival / 60 days
San Marino - visa-free / 90 days
Sao Tome and Principe - visa-free / 15 days
Saudi Arabia - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Senegal - visa-free / 90 days
Serbia - visa-free / 90 days
Seychelles - tourist registration / 90 days
Sierra Leone - visa on arrival / 30 days
Singapore - visa-free / 90 days
Slovakia - visa-free / 90 days
Slovenia - visa-free / 90 days
Solomon Islands - visa on arrival / 90 days
Somalia - visa on arrival / 30 days
South Africa - visa-free / 90 days
South Korea - visa-free / 90 days
South Sudan - visa required
Spain - visa-free / 90 days
Sri Lanka - eTA / 30 days
St. Vincent and the Grenadines - visa-free / 30 days
Sudan - visa required
Suriname - eTourist card / 90 days
Sweden - visa-free / 90 days
Switzerland - visa-free / 90 days
Syria - visa required
Taiwan - visa-free / 90 days
Tajikistan - visa on arrival / eVisa / 45 days
Tanzania - visa on arrival / eVisa
Thailand - visa-free / 30 days
Timor-Leste - visa on arrival / 30 days
Togo - visa on arrival / 7 days
Tonga - visa on arrival / 31 days
Trinidad and Tobago - visa-free / 90 days
Tunisia - visa-free / 120 days
Turkey - eVisa / 90 days
Turkmenistan - visa required
Tuvalu - visa on arrival / 30 days
Uganda - visa on arrival / eVisa
Ukraine - visa-free / 90 days
United Arab Emirates - free visa on arrival / 30 days
United Kingdom - visa-free / 180 days
Uruguay - visa-free / 90 days
Uzbekistan - eVisa / 30 days
Vanuatu - visa-free / 30 days
Vatican City - visa-free / 90 days
Venezuela - visa required
Viet Nam - eVisa / 30 days
Yemen - visa required
Zambia - visa on arrival / eVisa / 90 days
Zimbabwe - visa on arrival / 90 days

It is possible to fly almost around the world.

Now you are ready to make an unforgettable trip! Meet fellow travelers, make new acquaintances, achieve your goals and fulfill your dreams.

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Last Updated on February 14, 2020.