Beginning active duty in July, I have a problem

[AF Anesthesia]

So I am finishing my anesthesia residency in July and moving to England. The man generating my orders(a civilian) has told me that my family(wife/kids) has to have no fee gov. passports, but they cannot even apply for them until I am ON ACTIVE DUTY. This means I will be in England, and they will be in US waiting on these passports. My questions:

1. If I have orders in hand, (but still months from active duty) can I apply NOW for ID card, DEERS enrollment, no fee gov passports?
2. Will I need a no fee gov passport to travel to the OCONUS location(this man says no, all I need is orders and ID)
3. Is it possible for dependents to travel with orders and ID only?

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[NavyFP]

Check with your local personnel division. They should be able to help you.

 

[usnavdoc]

So I am finishing my anesthesia residency in July and moving to England. The man generating my orders(a civilian) has told me that my family(wife/kids) has to have no fee gov. passports, but they cannot even apply for them until I am ON ACTIVE DUTY. This means I will be in England, and they will be in US waiting on these passports. My questions:

1. If I have orders in hand, (but still months from active duty) can I apply NOW for ID card, DEERS enrollment, no fee gov passports?
2. Will I need a no fee gov passport to travel to the OCONUS location(this man says no, all I need is orders and ID)
3. Is it possible for dependents to travel with orders and ID only?

1. Yes you can get these Items but you need to go to a base so that things can be expedited. We dealt with this some with reserve augmentees.
2. It is better to have the passport but yes you can travel to some countries with just orders and your ID.
3. They need the passport.

This really shouldnt be a big deal. You can get a gov passport pretty fast. I applied and got mine in about 2 weeks.

 

[runningmom]

Back in the day...... 2002 to be exact, I was able to travel with one of my dependants only on orders to Germany. Those orders MUST state that the dependants are traveling with you. But it gets sticky and isn't nearly as fluid and probably isn't something you want to deal with after an overnight flight. I wouldn't recommend it and I don't know if things have changed since then.

Here's another idea, just get a standard tourist passport for them. It should take 4-6 weeks, but can be expedited if needed. Granted, it costs a few bucks ($80 or so???) but it might be worth it if the issue becomes getting them to the UK with you or having them hang out until the paperwork drill gets fixed. Good luck!

 

[usnavdoc]

Back in the day...... 2002 to be exact, I was able to travel with one of my dependants only on orders to Germany. Those orders MUST state that the dependants are traveling with you. But it gets sticky and isn't nearly as fluid and probably isn't something you want to deal with after an overnight flight. I wouldn't recommend it and I don't know if things have changed since then.

Here's another idea, just get a standard tourist passport for them. It should take 4-6 weeks, but can be expedited if needed. Granted, it costs a few bucks ($80 or so???) but it might be worth it if the issue becomes getting them to the UK with you or having them hang out until the paperwork drill gets fixed. Good luck!

The tourist passport will work for a while but the visa becomes a question. Now this is only the UK so its likely not a big deal but it would require some checking.