Border Crossing
 

I am considering going to Vancouver, BC, by train as part of a vacation early next year. I was curious as what the border-crossing experience is, and if there are any changes in store.

It used to be pretty easy to go to Canada, but with recent reports of an impending passport requirement for flying there, I am hoping that this isn't going to be more hastle than it's worth to me.

For the past many years, Amtrak has "recommended" that a passsport be used. And it states "A driver's license is not accepted!"

So unless you want to carry your original birth certificate, you will need to carry your passport anyway!

If you don't have a passport, then as noted your birth certificate is perfectly acceptable, as long as you have a photo ID in addition to the birth cert. And you must have that photo ID, as just the birth cert by itself will not work. You will not endure extra scrutiny just because you don't have a passport, so there really is no difference other than the need to carry both the birth cert and a photo ID vs. the passport.

It should be noted though, that unless the law is changed, come January 1, 2008 you will need a passport from that point on. The airline and cruise ships part of the law take effect this January 1st, 2007, while ground crossings (driving & train) take effect 1 year later.

Ps. It doesn't need to be your original birth cert, but it must be an official birth cert with a raised seal.

President Bush is expected to sign legislation this week which would delay the deadline for land border crossings until June 1, 2009.

The effective date for air and cruise entry is (IIRC) January 7, 2007. This was delayed for the benefit of holiday traffic.

It doesn't sound too bad.

So, I should expect that birth registration card and driver's license to be acceptable?

What are the current crossing procedures?

Took this train last month. Be advised that our experience at Canadian customs in Vancouver was awful. The arrival area where you de-train in Vancouver is completely fenced in, almost caged, and narrow. A lot of people in a small area, with a very slow moving line. Customs agents with a sniffing dog walk among you. There is virtually no provision for luggage so that if you have more than a single overnight case, you are in trouble. You must wait in this large slow-moving line in the small fenced area nudging your luggage foot by foot. When you manage to get through this unpleasant experience, the next hurdle is obtaining a taxi by the station entrance. There was one cab waiting for a crowd of about 25 travelers that wanted taxis. And more did not arrive quickly.

Not to say that the train wasn't very nice. The Cascades to Vancouver is a very nice train. And, of course, Vancouver is a great tourist city. But the customs experience was very third-world.

The ID issue is actually more required to get back into the USA than to get into Canada. It is on the return that you will not be admitted back into the USA unless you have photo/birth ID, which makes the passport the most practical piece of ID to use. Since most Americans don't have passports, this becomes an issue... I would certainly expect all FTers to have this essential travel document.

As for the actual procedure at Vancouver station, it seems no different from most ports of entry into the USA if you are using the bus. On such occasions one must remove bags, allow dogs to sniff them, then line up to go through a personal review of your documents...then get back onto the bus. "Welcome to the USA."

BTW, just a few steps from the RR station is Vancouver's rapid transit that will wisk you into the city nearby most major hotels for about $2.

On the way back, you'll be checked by US officials at the border. They'll come on board to check documents and select certain people for actual customs checks. Again, it is to get back into your country that the appropriate US ID is essential.

I don't know about the bus and, of course, this thread is about the train. Also, what I am saying is that there is no provision for assistance with luggage or even any availability of carts. One must pickup one's luggage at trainside and then continuously lug the luggage for about 45 minutes while inching forward in the long line to customs. No assistance, no carts, no advice. If one is on an extended journey (as we were) and has a number of suitcases (as we did) it is extremely uncomfortable. We are in our sixties. I can't imagine how older folks would cope. How difficult would it be for Vancouver station managers to see to it that carts are available trainside for the Cascades arrival?

Getting into Canada still is easy, compared to getting back into the States. Do yourself a favor and bring your passport.

Bob H

Why would I have gotten a passport if I never travel outside of the United States, Canada, and Mexico? A pretty pretentious assumption....

Well, 80% of Amtrak Cascades operations into/out of Vancouver is actually on buses; for them, the border crossing is done at the actual border, in acceptable but boring facilities, instead of at Pacific Central Station. (So, if you do book on Amtrak, you might want to double check whether it's a bus or train that you'll be boarding.)

And while it may be "pretentious" (perhaps you meant presumptuous?) to assume you'd traveled outside North America, even before the impending passport requirement it's still very smart for anyone traveling cross-border to have a passport.

[QUOTE=paytonc;7016679]Well, 80% of Amtrak Cascades operations into/out of Vancouver is actually on buses; for them, the border crossing is done at the actual border, in acceptable but boring facilities, instead of at Pacific Central Station.
QUOTE]
May be true, but then irrelevant as the OP clearly posted he/she is traveling by train.