kleinluka

Hi,
sorry this is a duplicate post from the Canada forum but I was hoping someone here could give me a quick answer to this question. A friend of mine is a US citizen and wants to make a short road trip to Montreal next week. She has a copy of her birth certificate. Would this be enough to be let back into the US or does it have to be an original?

Thanks for any information you could give me on this.

crg

They're accepting copies along with a government issued photo id. After June 1st, they want passports or some other specific secure documents.

They will always let a US citizen back into the US, even if all their ID is lost. They're entitled to see a judge for a limited review even if the border official thinks they aren't US.

kleinluka

Hi thank you very much, this answered my question

crg

Note: I assumed a "short trip" meant the person is crossing by land. All international air travel requires a passport or other approvied WHTI compliant document.

meauxna

"short road trip"

kleinluka

just to follow up on this. the copy isn't notarised. it's a simple photocopy. would this be a problem?

crg

According to the guidance on their web site, a regular photocopy is fine.

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/...andsea_faq.pdf

Does my birth certificate need to be a certified, original copy?
No, we will accept an, original, copy or certified copy of your birth certificate.

Notice that the guidance doesn't say anything about notarizing it. Notorizing a document like this is quite meaningless. All the notary will do is certify that you signed a statement saying that it's legit. The officers at the border are authorized by law to take statements under oath if they see fit.

kleinluka

Thank you very much, crg14624

this was very helpful