I recall that we had an open border with Canada. There’s several towns that are divided by the border. I recall a news report that profiled a town library that was on the border. You could cross countries just walking from Fiction to Non-Fiction. People went back and forth all the time. They might live in Canada and walk two blocks to their job in the U.S. I know security tightened after 9/11, but AFAIK passports and visa weren’t required.
I was considering a hunting trip in Canada. This link surprised me. They say Passports are required, what about a Visa?
When did passports become required just to enter Canada from the US? Is the reverse true? Do Canadians need a passport to enter the US? This seems burdensome. People along the border shop in both countries. They have relatives and friends in both countries.
“Under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, as of January 23, 2007, citizens of both Canada and the United States were required to present a valid passport at a U.S. Preclearance Facility – located at all major Canadian airports – prior to boarding their flight to the United States. Beginning June 1, 2009, it was established that travelers entering the U.S. through a land or sea border must present a passport or WHTI-compliant document.”
They’re still not required, though the lack of a passport means another form of acceptable ID is required. This can be a trusted traveler card - like the GlobalEntry - or a passport card. Some US states and Canadian provinces also have enhanced driver’s licenses that combine a regular driver’s license with some features of a passport for purposes of crossing the US-Canada border. And yes, it does work both ways.
It’s been this way for nearly 10 years, after the enhanced security requirements following 9/11.
Yes, it’s more of a hassle than it used to be, but you can imagine the outcry if we did nothing to secure the single longest international border the US has.
Your guess is wrong. It was because of 9-11, but they weren’t required until June 2009. But actually they aren’t strictly required. You can have a Nexus card, a passport card (though it’s not valid for entry by air), or an enhanced driver’s license instead (ditto). Commercial truckers also have some kind of express thing.
More United States policy than Canadian. If we won’t let people back in without a passport, it is only good sense they require one too. Else people of questionable immigration status would just get stuck in Canada when denied re-entry to the U.S.
A guy at work was bitching that Canada not letting his son visit because of a 15 year old DUI. I pointed out that it is the US government who is gleefully shares all this info with the entire world.
Living in a border state the “enhance license” offered by the state was pushed well before the requirement was enforced. I’d guess most of the people close to borders heard similar messages when renewing their licenses. It was a US driven change. Canada couldn’t very well let US travelers enter without those documents since we couldn’t go back home.
I think the difference is that the US normally regards DWI as a misdemeanour, so a single conviction may not bar a Canadian from entry into the US.
Canada always regards it as a criminal offence (we don’t use the misdemeanour/felony distinction), so a single conviction may bar an American entry to Canada.
Before I drove to Canada in 2007, I called them. They said an original birth certificate would do. So that is what I used. Next time in 2011 I needed a passport.
The U S State department has two different passports. A book costs $110 adults ($80 children under 16), is good for 10 years (5 for children) and is good anywhere by any means of travel (many countries require it is good for 6 months after you enter so check first). A passport card cost $30 ($15 child) and is only good for travelling by boat or card to Canada, Mexico or the Caribbean. You can not fly with it so you are SOL if you drive to Canada and need an emergency air flight. There is also a separate $25 fee for the place that processes it (town hall, post office,etc). It takes 4-6 weeks (can be quicker and usually is). There is an expedited service that runs about $85 more and takes. You need it quicker-call State Department and make sure you have proof you need it in less than two weeks…such as airline tickets. State Dept wants $110/$80 by check or money
To get a passport book or card, you need proof of citizenship: original, raised seal birth certificate, naturalization papers, or birth overseas consular certificate. This proof of citizenship gets submitted to the State Department and they mail it back. They do not want a photocopy. You need valid government issue id: driver’s license, military id, resident id, police id.
If you are doing for a child, both parents (if both are on the childs birth certificate) must be present, along with child (believe it or not, some people think they can get a child’s passport without the child being there. No no no no.). If one isn’t, adequate proof must be submitted: death certificate if one is dead, signed notarized state dept consent with photo copy of id shown to notary (If drivers license, photocopy BOTH sides. Many notaries don’t realize but the state dept will not accept without sides, and do not put it on two sides of the sheet. Either on same side or two separate, make the legible. If divorced, submit original papers showing sole (not full) custody. If both parents are there, both need valid government photo id. If don’t have, try to get or check with State Dept or acceptance office first as to what you can use.
It is a good idea to have form (DS-11) filled out first- black ink, don’t use whiteout (invented by the mother of Mike Nesmith of the Monkees), if make mistake, cross out with one line. For “parents name at birth”, the State Dept wants your mother’s maiden name. Do sign it, that comes at the end when you do what the State Dept says is the most important: swearing your statement is true, as best you know. If there are some things you just don’t know, like place or date of parents birth, don’t fill it out. State Dept wants accuracy.
Photos: you need a State Dept approved photo. Certain size for head , white/off white background, eye pupil color visible. Religious headgear is fine, medical headgear needs doctor’s note, anything else is not. No exaggerated goofy expressions, full face. Proper lighting. The vast majority of times these various drug stores do a good job but there are a few mistakes. Most acceptance offices (check travel.state.gov for sites and info) can take photos for a fee.
Keep in mind an acceptance office only accepts the form. The State Dept makes the final decision. I did have them reject one because the applicant, an African-American had very black skin and they felt the photo wasn’t clear enough. He was polite about it and I put enough light on for the second one to pass.
If our highly dedicated, hard working, benevolent members of Congress ever have another government shut down, fear not. The State Dept makes money on passports ($110 apiece they should) so that branch isn’t shut
Retired (I LOVE that 7 letter word) Passport Acceptance Agent. I believe everything is still true but check first with State or local office.
The only reason Canada requires Americans to have a passport is so that the Americans can get back into the USA.
There is no visa requirement for Americans entering Canada.
People with a conviction that in Canada could be indictable conviction are not allowed in unless they do the Group W bench thing (prove that they have redeemed themselves, which takes a bit of time and money on both the USA end and the Canadian end, so don’t leave it until the last minute).
In Canada we have three different ways of proceeding with a charge: summary, hybrid or indictable. Summary offences are usually what would be prosecuted in the USA as a misdemeanor, and indictable offences are usually what would be prosecuted in the USA as a felony. Where it gets muddled is with hybrid offences, in which the Crown can proceed either summarily or via indictment. If someone in the USA is convicted of a charge which in Canada could have proceeded by indictment (meaning it is either a hybrid offence or an indictable offence), then admission into the Great White is barred.
For example, let’s take having a couple of beers too many and going joyriding in an old scrapper that isn’t worth towing to the junk yard. In Canada, these would be hybrid offences that could proceed summarily or by indictment, so since it is possible that they could proceed by indictment, the American would not be allowed in. It wouldn’t matter if the American had been convicted for misdemeanor theft and misdemeanor drunk driving rather that felony theft and felony drunk driving. The only thing that Canadian Customs would consider is whether or not it could have proceeded via indictment in Canada.
The moral of the story is to check with a Canadian criminal lawyer well in advance of trying to enter into Canada if you have any conviction of any type on your record. The lawyer can tell you if it would or would not have been possible to proceed via indictment.
This year is the first I’ve heard of the DWI bar for entry into Canada. Regrettably, I was convicted of misdemeanor DUI over 16 years ago and have traveled to Canada probably 15 times since then, both by air and land and have never been questioned.
But just last month a family friend was barred entry for an 8 year old DUI conviction. Is this something that is hit or miss or will I be barred entry as technology improves? Is there a way around the ban?
It’s hit and miss, and will get tighter as more historical data is entered. A sixteen year old misdemeanor might not have been high on the data entry priority list.
“Son, ha-ve you re-ha-bil-i-ta-ted your-self?”
If you run into difficulty, ask the officer to deem you to be rehabilitated. This is a bit risky, for if you are denied, your vacation is shot to hell. Note that you cannot be deemed to be rehabilitated if you could have received ten years or more for the penalty in Canada. For example, when someone drives drunk, usually the penalty is up to five years, but if someone injures a person while driving drunk, the penalty is up to ten years. If your only run in with the law is a misdemeanor DUI 16 years ago, odds are that you will be deemed to be rehabilitated, by why risk it?
A safer course is to apply for rehabilitation. Fill out a form, attach your record search, a copy of the law under which you were convicted, something proving that you completed your sentence, and a couple of hundred bucks. Then sit there on the Group W bench until your application is processed – perhaps a year or more.
At the Highway 61 crossing the US Border Patrol usually lets Americans back in with a very stern warning after they call about for references, but it isn’t something someone should depend upon, for sometimes people really are rejected, and have to hang out in Canada until their paperwork is in place, and occasionally (very rarely) that gets screwed up even further if the Canada Border Services Agency does not want to let you back into Canada loose on your own, so they might lock you away for the interregnum.
The question should have been “When did Canada start requiring visiting Americans to have any form at all of ID?” Before 9/11, and for some time after, all you needed to do at the border was tell the immigration officer where you were born, and if your answer was not USA or Canada, of if they had some reason to not believe you, like a strong foreign accent, , then you could be asked for some form of identification, and a drivers license was usually sufficient. In maybe about 100 crossings, I don’'t think I was ever asked for any papers at all. Even when I lived in Canada and had a car with Canadian plates and said I was American, I was just waved through, in both directions.
Interesting. The individual officer has the power to deem me “rehabilitated” on the spot and waive me through? What if he says “no”? Can I back up 20 feet and then attempt to go through a different traffic lane where a different officer might be more sympathetic?
People went back and forth all the time. They might live in Canada and walk two blocks to their job in the U.S. I know security tightened after 9/11, but AFAIK passports and visa weren’t required.