PEACHSTER

I am wondering about this so will ask. I will be going to Canada with my fiance to his interview. What I would like to know is would it be better for me getting a passport or I really dont need one to cross into Canada? I do have a pic ID plus will have with me 2 forms of my BC. One certified long form & then the one issued from the hospital. I just wanna know casue then I am not gonna spend almost a 100 getting one if I dont need to. I just dont wanna be denied entry cause of something like this.

Thanks to all who can help me on this.

SecretGarden

Hi Peachster,
I took a trip last fall to Toronto from Chicago and did not require a passport. Just acceptable forms of ID. Hope this helps.
~SecretGarden
P.S. Call a travel agent if you're unsure

Patrick

Find out what the Embassy require as well, You need a US passport to enter London Embassy. To be on the safe side if you have a passport why don't you take it anyway?

Patrick

Rete

For now a driver's license is sufficient. You should have some form of photo ID.

Personally, I have always used my passport to visit Canada (which is a minimum of twice a year) since I have one for international travel.

Rete

saledevo

I went to Canada via Detroit last October and they were reluctant to let me in without a passport or BC. All I had was my Driving Licence. After a lot of scrutinization, they let me in but made no bones about the fact that I had better have my BC or passport next time.

I think you are always better off leaving the country WITH a passport; they are only 75 bucks, last 10 years and save you alot of worry.
sal

Andy Platt

"Rete" wrote:

    > For now a driver's license is sufficient. You should have some form
    > of photo ID.

I'm guessing you mean a driver's license is sufficient for the ID part
rather than sufficient for crossing into Canada (though it certainly used to
be that you could just use a driver's license and say you were a US
citizen). The current statement on the DoS website is:

"Visas are not required for U.S. tourists entering Canada from the U.S. for
stays up to 180 days. You will, however, need (1) proof of your U.S.
citizenship such as (a) your U.S. passport or (b) original or certified copy
of your birth certificate and photo identification. (For information on
obtaining a U.S. passport, check with the nearest passport agency located at
13 locations throughout the U.S.) If you are a naturalized citizen and do
not have a passport, you should travel with your naturalization certificate.
A driver's license or Social Security card is not valid proof of
citizenship. All U.S. citizens entering Canada from a third country must
have a valid passport. Alien permanent residents of the U.S. must present
their Alien Registration Card, commonly called the "Green Card." If you are
a dual U.S./Canadian citizen you should always present yourself as a
Canadian citizen when entering Canada. However, U.S. citizens should use
their U.S. passports when entering or leaving the United States."

(Source: http://travel.state.gov/tips_canada.html)

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

Rete

Thanks Andy for verifying what I have been saying on this NG for the last few years and have been shot down constantly for. Driver's licenses are used primarily and is a courtesy thing by both countries. It is my understanding there is a new proposal in the works that will mandate passports again between the borders and that Canadian residents, not citizens, will be required to have visas and be fingerprinted and photographed before being allowed across if they come from certain countries.

We took friends from MA who have never been to Canada before on a day trip to Canada for lunch one Saturday. Yes we made the 14 hour round trip in one day for lunch at St. Hubert. They did not have BC's, only driver's licenses and did not have a problem at all.

It should be interesting to see if this is accepted and what will be required of US PR's who want to travel to Canada with just their green card.

Rete

Paul

In article , Rete
writes
    >Thanks Andy for verifying what I have been saying on this NG for the
    >last few years and have been shot down constantly for. Driver's
    >licenses are used primarily and is a courtesy thing by both countries.
    >It is my understanding there is a new proposal in the works that will
    >mandate passports again between the borders and that Canadian residents,
    >not citizens, will be required to have visas and be fingerprinted and
    >photographed before being allowed across if they come from certain
    >countries.
    >We took friends from MA who have never been to Canada before on a day
    >trip to Canada for lunch one Saturday. Yes we made the 14 hour round
    >trip in one day for lunch at St. Hubert.

Seattle to Vancouver for breakfast is common, but that's only three
hours each way. Though we did do San Francisco to Seattle, which is
roughly the length of John O'Groats to Lands End, in 12 hours.

    >It should be interesting to see if this is accepted and what will be
    >required of US PR's who want to travel to Canada with just their
    >green card.

The usual procedure we get is: asked for ID, hand over the green card,
get asked for a passport, sometimes just seeing that I'm carrying one is
enough, other times they want to look inside it.
--
paul
58-77 Sheffield 77-79 Coventry 79-88 Sheffield 88-97 Milton Keynes
97-99 London 99-00 Seattle 00-?? Fremont

Andy Platt

"Rete" wrote:

    > mandate passports again between the borders and that Canadian residents,
    > not citizens, will be required to have visas and be fingerprinted and
    > photographed before being allowed across if they come from certain
    > countries.

That part's already in place and, what's more, it covers Canadian citizens
too if they naturalized from those certain countries. In fact the Canadian
government have put out a general travel advisory to it's citizens about
travelling to the US because of this - they are rather pissed at the US
government over this treatment of it's citizens as you can imagine.

Andy.

--
I'm not really here - it's just your warped imagination.

hmiller

We used to travel back and forth to Canada quite a bit growing up and never had any problems. And recently when we've travelled across we've never had to show even any identification at all just state our business. Of course this is pre-9/11 and also in the "backwoods", entering to Oliver, BC.

Some family friends currently travel to Canada to fly to Hawaii as airfare with the exchange rates is cheaper and they were told that passports would soon be required....but never were given a timeline.

Rete

Yes, I read that in the papers recently and as a US Citizen, even I was horrified at the INS' treatment of the engineer who is a Canadian citizen and their abuse of his rights when he was only landing in the US for a connecting flight back to Canada. And then they turned around refused to allow him to call anyone and shipped him to Syria instead of the country he was coming from (Zurich) or to Canada.

Extremism at its worse.

Rete

PEACHSTER

I guess I better go get one.

donahso

Last time I was there was a year ago. Didn't have too much trouble either way, but things are changing fast with no warning. Better to be safe than sorry, PEACHSTER. You're picking up some very important cargo!!!!

-Don H

Caro

What was the story exactly? A Syrian naturalized Canadian coming back to Canada from Zurich with a connection in the US and deported to Syria?

Thanks,
Caroline

Rete

Basically, yes. He is an engineer and during the layover for the plane change I believe at JFK he was taken into custody by the INS and questioned for terrorist involvement/knowledge. They would allow him to call the Canadian Consulate or make any phone call at all. The authorities did not notify the Canadian government that they had him in custody. The only way they found out is his wife was concerned because he didn't come home as expected and she finally called the Canadian government who "found" him. But accoding to law you are suppose to be sent to your originating destination or at the very least back to your own country. Since he was born a citizen of Syria, the INS deported him to Syria where he is still under arrest because although he was a citizen at birth he has not fulfilled his obligation of serving in their army.

The US government is not playing fair. Regardless of their "suspicions" they do not have the right to deny standard privileges to those they remand into custody. Canada is angry and they have every right to be, at least IMHO.

Rete