I have a passport but it expired last year. I suppose I could get it renewed right now, but I have no international travel other than to the US planned for the next while, so if I can put it off I will.
I’d have to get new pictures, go downtown, wait in line for hours, pay the big fat fee, and the bloody thing is only good for 5 years. I’d like to delay it as long as possible, to get the most bang for my buck, so to speak, but if I need it to fly into the US, I best be getting it sooner rather than later as I have a trip coming up in a while.
Flying from the US to Canada (and back) can be a little strange. Sometimes the airline folks can be more picky about ID than the officals. You might want to drop a dime on your airline and ask what their requirements are in addition to what the government’s requirements are.
That’s one of the many reasons why the upcoming passport requirement to enter the US is not popular up here in Canada. In addition to the procedure Alice cited, we also have to have our passport applications “guaranteed” by somebody who has (a) known you for at least three years, and (b) is a member of an approved profession (for example, a lawyer, a doctor, a rabbi, a priest, or another profession on the approved list).
In addition, Canadian passports are not renewable. Whether you already have one that’s about to expire, or an expired one, or none at all, the process is the same–you start from scratch; using the procedure stated above. Now imagine having to endure that if you want to do so much as take a look at Niagara Falls from the American side, or take a day trip from Vancouver to Seattle.
I rather envy my American wife. A simple downloadable form, a money order for the required fee, her old passport, and the cost of postage to a US government office in the US; and voila! She has another US passport good for the next ten years. I, on the other hand, cannot get such service and convenience in my own country.
Not at the moment. You can still get by on a driver’s licence. However, I believe the Minister for Public Safety (or whatever they’re calling her now), in a tit-for-tat move, announced that Canadian documentation requirements will be the same as US requirements. I could be wrong about this.
Emphasis mine. Doesn’t seem to have changed - just need a driver’s license. (although I wonder why it says “and” instead of “or” on that last line) I only needed a driver’s license to get out of Mexico too.
A driver’s license is not proof of citizenship. Proof of citizenship would be a passport or birth certificate. In the event that you’re using a birth certificate, photo id (like a driver’s license) is required in addition, to establish that you are the person who belongs to the birth certificate.
A driver’s license is not and has never been sufficient documentation to cross the US/Canada border, in spite of the fact that on any particular crossing one might not be asked for more.
Well, I spoke to the airline, and as far as they’re concerned, as long as I have a drivers licence and a birth certificate, I’m good to go - no passport required.
Which is nice because I really wasn’t looking forward to taking a day of work to get a new one.
When we (Americans) went to Vancouver last year we were advised by the cruise line to have passports, or failing that, a driver’s license and birth certificate. In practice the driver’s license was adequate, as my wife didn’t have her passport yet and was never once asked to show her birth certificate.
I’d recommend the OP get her passport before the trip. I found the customs inspectors who boarded the train coming back to be surly and accusatory in their manner with me, and I live in this country. No sense in not making things go as smoothly as possible, so get the passport.
For Americans, is it Canada and Mexico saying we need passports to enter their countries, or is our own government insisting that we have passports before being allowed to leave?
