Yo, Canada! Do I really need a birth certificate to visit?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Or is a driver’s license enough? I’m putting this in IMHO instead of GQ because I don’t really need to hear forty-eleven people tell me, “For legal reasons, the Straight Dope Message Board is forced to tell you blah blah blah that you need blah blah blah…”

So. Sometime in August we’re planning on driving from Port Huron, Michigan, to Niagara Falls, New York, (towing a trailer) and there’s a nifty shortcut that goes right through Ontario. Not meaning to denigrate the great province of Ontario by referring to it as merely a shortcut to something more interesting in the U.S. of A., but, well…

Anyway, this says this:

The State Department is even worse.
http://travel.state.gov/tips_canada.html

I mean, come on! Driver’s license doesn’t count? I have to go find all our birth certificates and Xerox them? I know where the kids’ are (I think), but mine? And the Better Half’s? Geez. :frowning:

We went across at Sault Ste. Marie a few years ago, just to be able to say we’d been “to Canada”, and they waved us through in both directions just on the Better Half’s driver’s license. Was that because it was only a 30 minute visit? Or did we just catch the tollbooth attendants feeling magnanimous?

And be serious now, I need to know. Whaddaya think?

2

I wouldn’t think you have to worry. I used to go the other way (to Vermont) a lot with friends and family (to watch movies in English cuz they’re so hard to get in Quebec!) and we never had any problems. Usually they just ask why you’re there, and how long you plan on staying. Even when we drove down to Disney a couple of years ago, we just told them thats where we were going, and we’d be back in about a week. They let us through no problem. And if they have any doubts about where you’re from, often your usual photo ID (drivers license, etc) should be acceptable. Especially in areas like Niagara falls - there’s a lot of tourism there, and they’re not gonna stop every car that goes through in order to see their birth certificates!

Just my impression of it!

3

I cross the border into Port Huron from Sarnia,Ontario regularly (once a week or so). I have never been asked for any type of documented proof about what country I am a resident of. However I always carry my DL and birth certificate in my wallet just in case.

We cut through the US on our way to Manitoba in May and were waved through each time we crossed the border, there and back.

If you’d like I can run over to the bridge tomorrow and ask them what exactly is required. I am going to the casino anyhow and it is about three minutes from there. Let me know.

When you go over the bridge and cross into Sarnia, Ontario wave at me. I’ll be the Canadian. :wink:

Jawofech

4

On the other hand, what’s so bad about having/getting a birth certificate? You certainly need to have one to get into Mexico (plus a photo ID).

It’s doubtful that a Xerox copy of a birth certificate would be any good anyway; it needs to be a certified copy or the original.

Can’t find one? Get one from the state in which you were born. It really isn’t a big problem.

5

I live 30 miles south of the Canadian border, and have travelled back and forth hundreds of times. I have never even needed to show my driver’s license. My mother, however, used to have to show her naturalization papers sometimes when she went across. (She was born in Scotland.) They didn’t always ask, and when they did they asked where we were all born, which was when they would sometimes ask for her papers.

These days, I think they run your license plate through a computer before they talk to you, and are already pretty sure you are fine before you even get up there. Or not, as the case may be. :slight_smile:

Have a wonderful vacation!

Scotti

6

If you have the time before your trip, order up the birth certificates. Officially, if you are an American entering Canada from the US for a visit, you need one of the following: a valid US passport, or an original US birth certificate plus photo ID, or an original US naturalization certificate plus photo ID. A driver’s licence or a voter’s card are not acceptable as ID. Note that particular attention is given to ensure that children being brought into the country are not being abducted, so have similar ID for them.

If you have been convicted for any of the following, you and nor admissible to Canada: shoplifting, theft, assault, dangerous driving, unauthorized possession of a firearm, possession of illegal substances, and similar minor offences, or indictable offences such as assault with a deadly weapon, manslaughter, and the like, or driving while intoxicated. If you or your ducks fall into any one of these, you might consider applying for a minister’s permit.

Unofficially, if you do not have the time to order up your documents, just show up at the border with your driver’s licence and odds are you will be passed through unless your ducklings are restless and start complaining. There are rules, and then there are rules, and most border officials have a strong dose of common sense, so the odds are the passport/birth certificate rule will not be enforced provided that its is obvious that you are a family on vacation. (The same goes for the speed limits, which on Highway 401 are posted at 100 kph, but which are ignored by everyone who usually zip along at 120 kph and only occasionally get nabbed).

The odds of being stopped and turned back at the border are very slim. Odds are that your identity will not be questioned too seriously, and if you are questioned, it will be more to ensure that you are not snatching children or bringing anything nasty into Canada (whatever you do, do not try to bring a handgun into Canada). Just make sure that your ducklings know to identify you as their mama. In any event, since the drive from Detroit to Niagara Falls is lovely on the US side, don’t be bothered if you get turned back for not having enough paperwork. Just tell the kids that Sandusky has some huge coasters waiting for them.

On the Canadian side, Highway 401 is as flat and boring as anything you would come across in Kansas (I do not exaggerate), but if you have the time, the trip along Highway 3 along the north shore of Lake Erie is quite delightful, with the birds and beaches of Point Pelee http://parkscanada.pch.gc.ca/parks/ontario/point_pelee/Point_pelee_e.htm being well worth visiting. Along the way small fishing villages such as Port Stanley http://www.port-stanley.com/ offer nice spots for lunch and a dip (Port Stanley’s main beach is on the other side of the river from the main village).

I used to live down that way and taught sea kayaking on Erie and Huron, so there is a special place in my hear for Erie’s beaches. The vegetation is Carolinian, which is very rare for Canada – much more like what one gets on the other side of the border, there are more birds that you can shake a stick at (particularly during the spring migrations), and the water is warm, warm, warm (as opposed to the ice cold water of Superior where I am now paddling).

Similarly, if you are doing the tourist thing, Niagara Falls Ontario http://www.city.niagarafalls.on.ca/ is much more fun than Niagara Falls New York, for it has a better view of the falls and has lots of horridly tacky attractions that kids love (and if you want to enjoy some much more refined time, drop downstream to Niagara on the Lake in Ontario http://www.niagaraonthelake.com/ which is a truly lovely town in which to wander).

Have fun, and don’t forget sun screen for the entire family a the beaches and KY for the entire family for the probe at the border.

7

Oh! Don’t forget to ask about getting GST refunded! We don’t like our tourists to pay taxes! I can send you a brochure on exactly how to do it (there’s a lot of tourism in my town, there’s a whole whack of brochures in the lobby of my office building) - just email me your address.

8

My Dad has no birth certificate, and he has been to Canada and Mexico repeatedly.

9

You ought to be okay without it. I always have been.

Are you and your spouse traveling together, with ducklings? I ask because they’re getting a lot more careful about allowing kids to go across the border with just one parent–they’re trying to cut down on the possibility of people using international borders to facilitate non-custodial parent kidnapping. So if you don’t look like your usual nuclear family (I can’t recall anything about your personal circumstances), you may need some additional documentation to show you’re the custodial parent.

10

Okay, thank you everybody, this is just what I was looking for.

Yes, we are all traveling en masse, overwhelmingly obviously an All-American family on vacation, the semi-geeky ones with the trailer painted to match the van, which is stuffed full of snacks and maps and pop bottles rolling around the floor. (OTOH, we could just be fiendishly clever smugglers…) :smiley:

Not to worry about the Ducklings ID’ing me as their mom, because the ones that don’t look like me, look like the spittin’ image of the Better Half. :smiley:

And gee, if I owned a gun, I guess I’d have to worry about whether to bring it or not. Since I don’t, I won’t. :smiley:

11

Are those the lyrics to that crazy anthem? Wow … I must have really been hammered at that Expos game.

12

Murphy’s 126th Corollary; if you don’t bring your birth certificate on that long trip, that will be the one day they want to see it.

13

Just to weigh in, when crossing from New York to Ontario, there was no issue. I don’t recall them even checking drivers’ licenses, but I may be misremembering. All we had to do was deal with an obnoxious Canadian on the way into Canada, and an obnoxious New Yorker on the way back into the States. Must be something about sitting in a little booth all day, questioning tourists.

14

I’ve crossed five different US-Canada border points, in either direction, and never had to produce my birth certificate.

Usually, though, I take along ID for the whole family just in case. The one time I forgot to, I almost had serious trouble…not at the border, but with my airline not believing that my younger son, for whom we didn’t buy a ticket, wasn’t yet two (he was a month shy of his second birthday). It can’t hurt to have good ID when traveling.

15

Bing-o-roonies. That’s the problem. You probably won’t need them, but are you prepared to turn that van/trailer combo around and head all the way home to get the paperwork, only to have then not require it when you get to the border the second time? A little effort now will help keep the trip from sucking later on.

16

FTR, you’ve never met a bigger bunch of humorless prigs than the Americans manning the booths to get back over. Don’t bother cracking jokes–they will not be amused. Just tell 'em what they need to know, as sweetly and politely and respectfully as possible.

17

I’ve gone up with carloads of 19 and 20 year olds (legal drinking/gambling age in Canada, hence the point of the trip…) at 7 or 8 PM on a Friday night and even then we never had any ID issues (except for the time when we got randomly picked out to have our car VERY thoroughly searched for drugs) and even the one time that I went up with my exchange student girlfriend, all she had to do was produce her passport, they stamped it and that was that (although she was from New Zealand, so perhaps they have a special dispensation for citizens of Commonwealth countries).

Besides fully agreeing that the fun on the Canadian side is much better (tons of nice tourist traps on Clifton Hill to check out), my other suggestion is to do some shopping at the duty-free shops. I normally purchase liquor there as it’s MUCH cheaper than the state stores in Pennsylvania (I got 2 1-liter bottles of Johnnie Walker Red Label for $26 US) but they also have a lot of other nice discounts on other things as well. Ohh, and if you gamble, a nice little place to check out is Fort Erie Racetrack and Casino…much less crowded than Casino Niagara and I’ve always seemed to hit much better there.

I have to agree here! I’ve always noticed that the Canadian customs people seem to be much nicer (and cuter I might add!) than the Americans.

18

DDG: A driver’s license is NOT proof of citizenship, of course, birth certificates aren’t photo ID… go figure. Important to bring both.

I used to travel from Quebec into Vermont quite frequently, often travelling with Americans (hey, we were all students and I was the only one with good enough credit to rent a car so we could go to Burlington). Trust me, having the I.D. is even more important when you (as a yank) are trying to get home, back across the border.

I was once driving an American friend down to Syracuse, the US border guards stopped us. They would allow me through, but not her (she didn’t have proof of citizenship). Big drag.

If birth certificates are hard to find (and yes, you need the originals) you might be able to get a proof of citizenship card. Here in Canada we can get one almost any federal building, much cheaper than getting your passport updated.

As to the original trip North, please, take the advice seriously DO NOT TRY TO BRING FIREARMS ACROSS THE BORDER. For most other things, they will simply send you back. For that, you will be arrested.

Maybe that is why Charlton Heston doesn’t visit very often. LOL

19

Which explains why we have that law, doesn’t it? :smiley:

Anyway, my parents and I have been over the border by various means many, many times. The only place I’ve ever been asked for ID while crossing the border is the airport, and even then all they wanted was my medicare card. (We continued from JFK to Paris in the same trip; then, of course, they wanted our passports.)

Even the one time I’ve been stopped at a border - we were a group of Esperantists returning from a convention with a girl with a speaking engagement in tow; they wanted to make sure that she wouldn’t be receiving any money for speaking, or some such - I don’t believe they asked her for her papers.

Anyway, it’s best to bring your birth certificates and/or passports, but the vast likelihood is that if you don’t look actively suspicious you will never need them.