Also, in the vein of prior history, if you have had a DWI, you may be denied entry into Canada. Many people have had this happen.

Just get the passports...Be Safe!!

Ahh, but the important part of that advisory is the first line...As early as January 1, 2008. The implementation of passports for land crossings has been delayed and will now be implemented by June 1, 2009. Thank you for your contributions, but they're not factually correct.

An old expired passport is good enough to pass through land crossings.

Lived just north of the border and filled up with gas every week using an expired passport was no problem. No hassle.

People who don't have a passport or any desire to get one are generally people not interested in visiting beyond the Walmart a mile away.

I kinda think so sorta maybe kinda maybe not... but I have a few theories on why people do not get them. Hear me out pls:

1) They are too big for today's practical needs. In the old days, passports were big "paperz please" type official looking booklets with stamps and insignias all over them. Most European countries many Americans go to now don't even stamp anything! Passports are kinda Euro in style to this day, seeing as how many countries in Western Europe, at least, still have the big folding paper driver's license and stuff like that. We have the cards.

2) if you lose it it is a pain to deal with. More so than most other documents. So people never carry it, and thusly, they think it is just one more thing they do not need because they cannot go everywhere anyway.

3) I think it takes long to get one using normal protocol, and it's lots more paperwork for less return for many people. For many people, travel is still a WANT rather than a NEED. The driver's license, on the other hand, is a NEED for most people. In the USA, the only people I can really think of who don't have a car or even need to drive are people who live IN Manhattan.

4) many people still claim they just don't want to have MORE stuff to carry around/think about. Especially those who rarely travel outside their own locale for whatever reason.


OK, so all of these reasons could be easily shot to pieces by most FT users, because for us, travel is KEY TO LIFE for one reason or another. But then again, that's US. We are not the only sector of people out there!

I think if the passport was ID card sized (after all, the resident Alien Visa finally went that route) then more people would be inclined to get one.

I think if it were a bit easier to get one, more people would do so.

I mean, it's not like it's that =hard, it's just a cumbersome process than not. For example, our baby got one and the USPS made us do the forms and both of us had to be there to sign it. Not necessarily at the same time, but they DID want us both to come down AND one of us had to bring the baby. This is necessary, perhaps, but it takes some extra work if both you and your wife work and the baby has a varied sleep schedule, etc. And hey, if you don't have a lifestyle where travel is really all that important (for example, you work in the trades in your local community and you have 3 kids and 2 jobs, and your wife works as a teacher and a coach and you both also own a local bar AND maybe have time to drive to Maine on some weekends in the summer) then why go through all of THAT? Plus, if they were easier to get, then they could make them expire in less years. How is it that they scrutinize MY picture and my passport's validity every time I travel just because it has some creases in it because it is too big to fit into things I have or wear, and yet, my baby's picture will be considered VALID til she is like 5 years old and looks nothing like her from 6 months of age?

Ignorant?
Nah... maybe just different than what WE know and do. It would be IGNORANT to assume everyone is just like us.

You can get around this by becoming President. (It would have been really hilarious for the Canadians to refuse GW Bush entry, say by making him get back on AF1).

As for passports, IME (not personally, but others travelling with me) expired US passports w/a valid US DL satisfy US border guys & gals. This avoids the worry of losing your current passport.

Sorry.

Well, I wanted to give everyone an update. As we were in the casino on the US side one of my friends was speaking with a gentleman who said that he was able to cross back and forth from Canada using just a US drivers license. We then decided to give it a try and cross ourselves.

No problems whatsoever crossing at the Rainbow bridge. Canadian Immigration / Customs didn't even look at the licenses; US Immigrations / Customs looked at them and waived us through without any hesitation.

-JC

I went through the border at NF on the weekend and showed my passport to the US guy who didn't even open it. On the way back I wasn't even asked for ID although, I was driving my own car and they did pull up the license plate info as I was driving into the kiosk area.

I used to carry around a passport as ID -- in my student days, when I always carried a backpack, it wasn't a problem. (No drivers license, and no, I don't live on Manhattan!) Last year, I went on a date with a federal agent who noticed that I'd casually handed my passport over to the bouncer. He said, "you really should hold on to that," saying that it'd be worth over $40,000 on the black market -- a sum definitely worth a criminal's time.

The passport now stays at home.

(Apparently, passports for young Arab and Asian men are worth more, because all of us "look the same" and all that. And, sure enough, many of my own ancestors got around the Chinese Exclusion Act by using "recycled" passports.)

Regarding the Canadian crossing: I was always told that a birth/naturalization certificate, not just a drivers license, was needed to prove citizenship. However, I've always used a passport. Technically, you won't need a passport after 2009; "green cards" and Nexus cards (a smart card issued by the Canadian government) will also work. I don't know how long the Nexus application takes, but it's $50 for a five-year card.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel/nexus/menu-e.html