If you are a Canadian citizen you may, or may not require a passport to enter the US.

However, if you have a passport it would not hurt to have it with you; particularly if you are an immigrant who has become a Canadian citizenship. There are documented cases of US border guards not admitting Canadians into America if their passports indicate that they're originally from another country; especially (and regrettably) those Canadians who're from traditionally Muslim nations.

Most permanent residents require additional supporting documents to enter the US and depending on the passport they hold, may also require a visa to enter the United States.

If you have any doubts about the necessary documents, consult the Citizenship and Immigration web page, or that of the US Government.

Of particular note from the US web site:

If you are a Canadian citizen, you do not require a visa to enter the United States. You may, however, be required to show your passport and proof of Landed Immigrant Status at the U.S. Port of Entry. Citizens of certain other countries do not require a visa for a stay of up to 90 days.

I suggest people read this site before traveling because:

Effective March 17, 2003 citizens of most British Commonwealth countries are now required to obtain a visa in advance of travel to the United States.

Happy traveling...and say "thanks" to George Dubya for making the world a safer place.

 

Passport definitely needed. Better safe than sorry

 

Canada is the only country that does not have to have a passport, visa, or have their citizens photographed and fingerprinted upon entry to the United States. For now anyway.

As of a few days ago, the British who used to not be photographed and fingerprinted are now having to have that done. Also, they are only allowed to stay 90 days without a Visa (only about 27 countries have this option), while Canadians can stay 180.

Either way, crossing the border into the United States is coiming to the point where it is almost guranteed to ruin your day. It sure did mine when I flew down, but it's a nice country (for the most part) once you're down here.

 

Been across the line numerous times in the past year (the border is only about a half hour from here by boat).

I've traveled in a car, on a plane, by boat, and once I went down there with my whole nasty biker-type race crew for an exhibition race in eastern Washington. We had a huge motorhome and a race trailer full of Nitro Drag race Harley stuff with us.

ZERO problems, each time.

I have never taken my passport with me. (I can't...it has a Cuban work visa in it). I just used my driver's licence and birth cerificate.

But I've only been asked to produce those on one occasion. The rest of the time they just wave me through with a smile. Getting back into Canada was tougher....each time.

By all means take your passport. But it is not required.

Like chealion says...once you get down there, it's really a rather nice place. Enjoy!

 

You need proof of Canadian Citizenship; a birth certificate qualifies but is a bit dangerous to carry because if you lose it an identity theft is very, very easy to pull off.

A passport is also fine and a bit safer because you can notify someone if you lose it or have it stolen. Birth certificates are permanent documents.

Most if us remember when a driver's license was all that was needed (which technically doesn't prove anything about citizenship) but those days are long gone.

Crossing a border can vary widely; you may have no problems at all many times but sooner or later someone is going to insist on proper documentation or close scrutiny. You are in US soil when at US Customs and a lot of things can happen, including short term detention.

Where this gets tricky is if you are refused for any reason (even something like no proof of citizenship), that will go on their database and you will have problems from that point on every time; in fact a single refusal is grounds for being barred permanently, technically.

I know one person who was refused for an insignificant reason and on a subsequent crossing was barred and deported (he didn't admit he had been refused before, and not answering a customs question truthfully is grounds for deportation, even if they find out long after you've crossed); they seized his boss's truck and it took months to get it back. Which was nice of them, they don't have to ever give it back.

 

Well due to the inconsistency of yes or no answers, I decided to contact the Canada Customs Border service and find out exactly what is needed these days.

The answer is NO you do not need a passport IF you were born in Canada, have a birth certificate and photo ID. That is all you need to cross the border with. There has been no mandate or law put in place for having a Canadian Passport when crossing the border via vehicle. This could be different when flying across the border, I was told in that case, check with your airline.

I hope this information is helpful to anyone else who was wondering. I thank those of you who were correct

 

I trek to Detroit every year for the auto show in January and this past year we were told by the border guard that a passport is a must even for Can citizens born in Can carrying a birth cert. The Jan following 9/11 I was able to enter without so much as a second look, just the usual questions and away we went. Seems the noose has gotten tighter

 

I'm assuming the Canadian border guards also advised that it would be wise to have your passport with you?

 

Times have changed, eh?

I remember rolling up to the border, enroute to Buffalo, in a tiny car packed with fellow stoned 20 somethings, like myself, back in the 70's. As we moved closer to the kiosk, to our horror, we rather suddenly realized that the car was full of thick pot smoke, so we rolled down all the windows and watched the smoke billow out. It was something like a scene from a Cheech and Chong movie. To this day, I have no idea what on earth we could have possibly been thinking. The expressionless US customs guard, asked if we were all Canadians and just waved us through.

One of my friends thought he detected the hint of a smile on the guards face. Me, I was just too terrified that I was going to end up in Attica to have noticed anything.

Anyone trying a dumb stunt like that today, would actually end up in jail before their buzz wore off.

So, hey, you kids out dere .... (said in a Don Cherry voice )

 

Canuck,

No, they did not. It is not mandatory and they can't force it on you until it becomes law. For whatever reason, some people have this notion that you need a passport to cross the border with your vehicle. There is this huge confusion out there after 9/11 and I thought I would get the correct answer and also see what others have experienced here.

Even though I was born and raised here in Canada, I have a valid passport, however not updated. I don't feel like spending the money to update it if I do not have to, just to cross into the US border for the day and come back again with my vehicle. However, if you are not born here in Canada, then perhaps you fall into the category of needing to use your passport, immigration papers etc.. to cross over and back into Canada.

I am sure that one day the requirement will be to use only your passport for ID when crossing the US border and back into Canada with your vehicle.

 

It is not mandatory and they can't force it on you until it becomes law.

Nor is it mandatory to allow you to cross the border.

Here's what it says on the Canadian Government's "Bon Voyage" website:

The requirements of U.S. authorities for identification upon entering the United States have recently become much stricter. The most important formality on entering the United States is providing proof of your Canadian citizenship. In order to avoid possible problems, all Canadians should carry a Canadian passport for all visits to the United States. Your Canadian passport is the best document to prove your Canadian citizenship and your right to return to Canada.

You were given valid information, we don't require a passport, but we can be denied access to the US for any reason - including not having enough valid ID to prove citizenship.

 

Taking a passport with you may not be necessary,
But it speeds up the border crossing if you have it.

Dave

 

Like I said earlier, if you have a passport then by all means take it with you. But it is not required.

If you were not born in Canada....or even LOOK like you weren't born here...then you will need that passport. And a bit of luck, these days.

 

I have to agree with Macnutt - Mark that date on the calendar!! If you have a passport, by all means take it, if not you shouldn't have any problem with a Canadian birth certificate and photo identification.

For the past 50 years I have travelled back and forth by train, plane and automobile without a passport, only my U.S. birth certificate, driver's license and Landed Immigrant card. Last year in Denver the security was the tightest of any place I have been. Our car was searched before we even got into the airport and they were checking contents of several bags.

One thing I always do is try to avoid any woman at customs and immigration, power seems to go to their head and they can give you a hard time. Honest, trust me on this!

 

...or even LOOK like you weren't born here...

It might be more correct to say "...or even LOOK like you weren't born here, in the opinion of some racist border guard who assumes that if you aren't, white and middle-class looking you aren't 'one of us'". Some racist who doesn't have a clue that someone born in Canada can be of any ethnic or cultural background.

It must be quite horrifying to be a naturalized or native-born Canadian of Arab or South-Asian descent and have to contemplate the thought of crossing that border, thinking that there is a chance, even with your passport in your hand, that something bad could happen to you. Entering a country that has new laws on the books allowing you to be legally disappeared. Yikes!

 

It would be far MORE horrifying for that very same border guard to know that they had let in someone who had gone on to commit some sort of horrific act. Killing or maiming thousands of innocent people.

That aforesaid border guard has to walk a very fine line these days. They must try their best to weed out the real Canadians from the fakes. Knowing, as they do, that Canada is insanely easy to gain entry to and that it currently harbours numerous active terrorist organisations.

Canada is, by far, the easiest route into the USA. For everyone. Al Qaeda knows this.

I sure wouldn't want to be a US Border Guard these days. No fun at all, I'd bet.

 

Put it this way. You don't require a Passport by law to enter the US. However, it is their country and they can deny whoever the heck they want. They are there to protect their country and if they feel ANY risk by letting you in, then they don't have to. However, I was there last Sunday with a birth certificate and a photo ID. The man there thanked me for having the proper ID (being an 18 year old ignorant adolescent) and said to have a nice trip.

 

Anyone trying to get into the US without a passport nowadays is a bloody idiot. The border guards are empowered to act on their own recognizance. They can detain you for hours. Take whatever ID you can and always tell the truth. As for racial profiling, the good agents don't do this (wouldn't have helped with Timothy McVeigh.....). However, I've seen many occasions of people of asian origin being pulled out the line for extra attention. Makes me sick. You can bet every non-Caucasian carries a passport - they've been through it for years.

If you are a landed immigrant, you also HAVE to have a Permanent Resident card to be allowed back into Canada by air (you can still walk over.....). If you are a citizen, you need proff of citizenship (such as a citizenship card, birth certificate or.... passport). If you travel on a foreign passport but are a Canadian citizen you need to carry your citizenship card.

Remarkably, you do not, legally, have to show photo-ID when travelleing by air with Canada. Most airlines demand photo-ID but it is not a statutary requirement. Moreover, in La Belle Provence, it is illegal to ask for Provincial identification (such as a driving licence) unless you are a government agency. Of course, don't try this at home or you'll be sitting in the departures hall.....

And for those of you with expired or no passports, be warned. There is a 6-10 week wait on passports and this gets worse in the run-up to Summer. Moreover, the number of rejected applications is now significant due to the many extra details and checks (such as submitting a photograph with any shadow, facial expression or head-covering).

Finally, the security guards are just doing their job. Make it easy for them. They are there to provide you with better safety. A week ago I was behind a complete idiot at Pearson. He was a contractor with a bag of tools (hammers, chisels, knives, box-cutters). He wanted to duck around the detectors and cussed the guards for making him take off his steel capped boots and tool belt.

 

I'm pretty sure your British accent is what gives away your origins, Woodget. In your case a passport is required, I believe.

But I'm betting you've receievd more smiles than scowls when crossing into the US.

Oh...and McVeigh was already in the US. He was born there. So borders probably weren't a big worry for him.

As long as middle eastern types continue to wreak havoc and blow stuff up all over the world, then anyone who even vaguely resmbles them will be looked upon with suspicion by most of the rest of us. This sort of human response comes under the heading of "IFF" (Identification of Friend or Foe)...and it is a reflex that is hundreds of thousands of years old. One of our most basic insticts. Right up there with "Fight or Flight".

The humans living here today are direct descendants of previous humans who survived by using these instincts on a daily basis. The proto humans who couldn't tell friend from foe...or who stayed and tried to reason with an enemy didn't live long enough to have kids and pass on their gentle genes.

Just because we have become rather civilised in the last couple of hundred years, doesn't mean that we have totally bred that old response out of our gene pool. At least not just yet.

Sad but true.

 

It would be far MORE horrifying for that very same border guard to know that they had let in someone who had gone on to commit some sort of horrific act. Killing or maiming thousands of innocent people.

Yup, I guess you’re right. Hey, gotta break some eggs ... “Those who are brown will please step into line B and submit to a short detention and cavity search before proceeding. This is necessary because your skin colour or ethnicity means that it’s more likely you might be a terrorist. If we believe on a hunch of some sort that you are guilty of anything you may be held, jailed, secretly tried or shipped to a dictatorship of our choosing for ‘extraordinary rendition’ (euphemism for torture). No contact with relatives or anyone else will be allowed. Your Canadian passport means squat. All completely legal under the Patriot Act. You are now entering the Land of the Free and the home of the Brave. Have a nice day.”

So the answers to the original questions of this thread are, don’t need a passport to cross the border, but probably a good idea. If you look kinda Arabic or something, better stay home.

Knowing, as they do, that Canada is insanely easy to gain entry to and that it currently harbours numerous active terrorist organisations.

Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t most of 9-11 perpetrators enter the US directly from places other than Canada? And weren’t they harboured quite nicely in the USA for months or years prior to the events, training in flight schools and such? I guess Dr. Condeleeza Rice will clear all this up for us shortly. Or maybe US President Bush, although he’s made a deal that he won’t be put under oath, and that their will be no record kept of his 9-11 commission testimony, but I’m sure that’s OK, too.

Just because we have become rather civilised in the last couple of hundred years, doesn't mean that we have totally bred that old response out of our gene pool.

Ah yes, the “we don’t have any choice but to act as our grey-matter deprived, cave-dwelling forebears did, because it’s in our genes.” I would argue that those Neanderthals who relied on their half-baked hunches or racial prejudices and simply bashed those who were different looking then them are the ones whose genes are now in short supply. Unfortunately not short enough.

Hmmm, Dubya kinda has that ape-like, knuckle-dragging look about him, doesn’t he.

 

One thing I always do is try to avoid any woman at customs and immigration, power seems to go to their head and they can give you a hard time. Honest, trust me on this!

lotus are you talking about American women, Canadian women, or just women in general?

That is quite a statement for a woman to make about women, but I sense it the voice of experience talking.

Cheers

 

One thing I always do is try to avoid any woman at customs and immigration, power seems to go to their head and they can give you a hard time. Honest, trust me on this!

That's the stupidist thing I've ever heard you say Lotus.

My American husband crosses the border everyday, twice. I cross it Very often. And in his extensive experience, as well as mine, anybody in the position of power can give you a hard time.

God. What a stupid thing to say.

And I'm surprised that anyone, especially You, Sinc, would condone such a thing to be said. I would assume You have some experience under Your belt too, no?

And to get back to the topic, I would take the advice of the people saying bring EVERYTHING that can identify you down there. If it's for business, get a letter from your boss, if it's for school, get a letter from your teacher, if it's for healthcare, get a letter from your doctor, bring every piece of i.d. you have. And GET a passport. American's aren't f'ing around anymore. And if you don't want to ruin your day/vacation/trip....don't treat it lightly. And if they ask you for your passport and you don't have one...NEVER say....

It is not mandatory and you can't force it on me until it becomes law.

hahahahahahahahha!!!!!!

[ April 07, 2004, 02:43 PM: Message edited by: Pamela ]

 

And I'm surprised that anyone, especially You, Sinc, would condone such a thing to be said. I would assume You have some experience under Your belt too, no?

Pamela, I simply asked a question. I was curious to know which women she referred to.

And I do have enough experience under my belt to know that I neither agreed with, nor condoned her stated opinion, something you would recognize had you read my post carefully and without emotion.

Cheers

 

The worst border experiences I've had (entering the US and entering the UK) were both with men.

Go figure.

 

well when one ends every post with cheers and a smile it's hard to clearly understand*what* position they take on a comment. And this statement:

but I sense it is the voice of experience talking.


sounds like you're excusing someone for stating such an obviously sexist comment.

Sorry if I brought emotion into reading it. How dare I be human. Geez.