Passport Information
TRAVELING TO CANADA
• NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS:
NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS FOR ALL PERSONS ARRIVING IN THE U.S. OR RE-ENTERING THE U.S., FROM CANADA, BY AIR.
New U.S. passport regulations took effect January 23, 2007, and now require all U.S. and Canadian citizens who cross the U.S. and Canadian border by air to have a valid passport to establish their identity and citizenship.
NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS FOR PERSONS ARRIVING IN THE U.S. OR RE-ENTERING THE US, FROM CANADA, BY LAND AND SEA.
Presently, the regulations governing U.S. and Canadian citizens traveling to, or returning to the U.S. from Canada, by land and sea, remain unchanged; all U.S. and Canadian Citizens crossing the U.S. and Canadian border by land and sea must be prepared to show either a passport, or other proof of citizenship such as a birth certificate, and a government-issued photo-ID such as a drivers license. A driver's license is never proof of citizenship, of course, but can serve as documentation of the bearer's identity in support of other proof of citizenship.
However, proposed, as yet unspecified changes will take effect sometime between January 1, 2008 (at the earliest), and June 1, 2009 (at the latest), whereupon U.S. and Canadian citizens will be required to present either passports “or other secure documents”, yet to be designated by the U.S. State Department.
•Visas:
Visas are not required of U.S. citizens planning to stay in Canada for 180 days or less, but anyone with a criminal record, including a DWI conviction, should contact a Canadian Consulate or Embassy prior to traveling. Waivers of exclusion may be obtained, but the process can take several weeks. The phone number at the Canadian Embassy in Washington, DC is 202/682-1740.
•Duty Free allowances:
In general, you will be allowed to bring items, including clothing (of course), camping equipment, sports equipment, cameras, laptop computers, etc., for your own use. In theory, you may be asked to post a bond to ensure that certain items are taken back to the United States, but this rarely, if ever, applies to tourists.
You can also bring up to 1.5 litres of wine, 1.14 litres of liquor or 24 cans or bottles of beer, and 200 cigarettes, as long at you're old enough. That's 18 or 19 depending on the province you're crossing into.
•Prohibited and restricted Items:
In short, handguns, including mace and pepper spray are restricted, and automatic and assault type weapons are prohibited. Most hunting rifles and shotguns are non-restricted, except that anyone wishing to bring one to Canada must be 18 years of age. Detailed information should be obtained from the Canadian Firearms Centre. Please also note that radar detectors are prohibited in Québec, Ontario, Manitoba, the Yukon and Northwest Territories (Nunuvut?) and are subject to confiscation, whether in use or not.
•Bringing children to Canada:
The Canadian government knows from experience that divorcing or divorced parents of minor children have been known to try to cross the border with their children, without the consent of the other parent, to avoid legal obligations related to child custody. Thus, if you will be crossing the border alone with a young child, you probably will be asked to explain the circumstances.
Divorced parents who share custody of children should have copies of the legal custody documents. It may also expedite matters if a single parent traveling with children has a letter signed by both him- or herself and child's other parent, explaining that the trip is being made with the consent of the absent parent. Occasionally, immigration personnel will telephone that parent, so, as an added precaution, it can be helpful if the absent parent can be reachable at around the time of the expected arrival at the border.
•Border Waiting Times:
Border crossing delays in the weeks following September 11, 2001 are legendary, but have eased considerably. However, we do sense that more attention is still being paid, on both sides of the border, to the travel documentation described in the foregoing paragraphs.
TIP: If you're driving to Canada, plan to fill your gas tank just before crossing the border, and buy only enough gas in Canada to get you back to the United States. Gas pricing can be a bit confusing, because measurements at the pump are in liters (and prices are in Canadian dollars) but in the end, gas is considerably more expensive in Canada
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