C-Forum

does anyone know what the new passport laws are about entering and leaving Canada is now?
i'm planning on going up for the Palmerfest/Single Blade Sym, and need to figure out a couple of things
any help would be apppreciated
john c.
cincy,ohio

I know when I went up to Canada last summer, they said either a passport or birth certificate. That may have changed though.

Nate

supposely there was a new law passed at the first of the year
just trying to find out the deatils
thanks
john c.

GET A PASSPORT!..... please....

The laws changed on 23JAN2007 for air travel between the US and anywhere else including Canada to require a passport.

The laws will change on 01JAN2008 for land travel to and from Canada to require a passport.

I would get a passport now. If you wait and need it all the sudden, expedited service will cost you $75 - $200 US.

All the passport paper work and witnessing can be done at your local full service post office. Check ahead of time with them to make sure they are a full service postoffice. Check the Department of State (DOS) website for specifics at:

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

Very soon that passport will become the most important document you have. You heard it here first.

If you are a single or a married parent traveling alone with a MINOR child you will also need a notarized letter from your spouse approving your leaving the country. They will stop you if you do not have this and will not let you continue. And may hold you till they can verify your claim.

Crossing borders these days is getting very difficult, if you want to do it lawfully.

so here's a border story:
I go back and forth alot, about 6x a month in the summer, and I have the back of my truck full of gear for my father's and my arctic excursion. there is a law that you cannot leave anything in canada. I didn't know/hadn't heard of this law. so everything I had was opened, 6 drybags of food, all our gear, I had to dis-assemble, and reassemble my stove to prove that it wasn't a bomb. and it ended up with me lying to get across. All told, I was there at the border crossing for 7 hours. I think they were strerotyping me. Huge beard, torn shirt, shorts, flip flops, and long hair. talking about a huge canoe trip. I can't blame them. it happens both ways, but that was the most severe one.
Prost
-Isaac
passports are useful...

Get a passport. While I've been only mildly hassled coming and going, it seems like each time gets a little worse and the passport thing always comes up, with the question "Why don't you have a passport?" Each time, the question gets harder and harder to answer. I guessing they don't want to hear the real answer, that I'm just lazy and getting a passport seems harder than taking their hassling at the boarder.

Oh yeah, leave your guns at home.

bearboater wrote:so here's a border story:
I think they were strerotyping me. Huge beard, torn shirt, shorts, flip flops, and long hair. talking about a huge canoe trip.

Your kind's not welcome here; lose the flipflops next time.

That stinks - I'll be they were looking for dope. You're prolly right about the stereotyping (no offence At least you could spent the next month paddling off your frustration!

my kind isn't welcome here either...
I'll try harder next time.
Prost
-isaac

As of mid- January, you need a passport to get into Canada (and Mexico) FOR SURE. Period.

I live 10 minutes from the border. For my entire life, all a US citizen needed to cross the border into Canada was a driver's license. Post 9/11 they started asking for a copy of your birth certificate, which technically had been required all along, but had never been enforced.

Now you need a passport, period.

That said, if you're driving across from, say, Detroit to Windsor, you'll almost never go through Immigration and have a good shot at not even going through Customs. You just have to reassure them that you don't have a gun, taser, mace, radar detector, or more than a couple packs of smokes. It's all rather quick and low-key- but no longer possible w/out a passport.

K

Motorcity-
i was in detroit area for work last year and we went to windsor for dinner and a show(wink wink)
it was a pain in the butt going into canada through the tunnel but coming back into the US across the bridge and we just came through with no problem.

the border patrol guy was real anal about everything, asking a lot of questions that if i answered in my manner i would of definetly not be allowed in the country.
moral of the story is don't be yourself or joke around with the border patrol.
thanks
john c.
cincy,ohio

MotorCityOC-1 wrote:As of mid- January, you need a passport to get into Canada (and Mexico) FOR SURE. Period.

K

Sorry to disagree, but this isn't true. You need a passport, for sure, if you are FLYING. The rules for driving & boating across the border are still the old rules.

I do agree with everyone's advice. Get a passport to speed up the process.

Here's one of many articles that back what I'm saying.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/l ... 564581.htm

Ghetto,

If you liked the (wink wink), next time try the (nudge nudge)!

Remember- a nod's as good as a wink to a blind man...

SAY NO MORE!!!

K