mrpotatohead

It's a special birthday next year for my wife and she has decided that she wants to see the autumn foliage in New England. We have the very kind offer of a timeshare in Vermont and were intending to fly to Boston for a few days and then drive all the way. However, our son recently visited Canada and has been enthusing about it ever since. So we are considering, therefore, whether to fly to Montreal for a few days and then hire a car to visit Vermont probably the first week in October, thus avoiding Colombus Day. We would then return to Montreal and take the train to Toronto for a few days before flying home.
Just wondering whether there are any complications in taking a hire car into the States and whether we might be subject to delay at the border being of British rather than Canadian nationality.

irecommend

I dont think that you would have any problem at all. Just have your passports handy for crossing to the states.

amelie

You won't have a delay for being British. My husband only had a British passport for years and we never had a hold up (now he has an American one also). I don't know about the rental car, but I'm sure tons of people do that.

NorthwestMale

Adding some clarity here, so everyone will understand:


With regard to rental cars only (and not the immigration status of those renting them)... it often raises an eyebrow when a resident of one country goes to the neighboring country and rents a car with the intention of bringing it back to his/her own country.

I am not saying such a thing "cannot" be done, but it may take jumping through some hoops and probably paying plenty for the privilege.

As the OP here is from the UK, he won't have any troubles that way when renting in North America. (anyone from elsewhere in the world would have to get a car SOMEwhere (I.E. one side or the other) if making a routine driving tour of Canada AND the U.S.)

fallsdude

When you cross into the U.S. by land, you will be required to obtain an I94-W Visa Waiver. This involves being fingerprinted, photographed, filling in the form and paying $6 each, about 1/2 hour. When you leave the U.S., you would relinquish the form to Canada Customs to be returned to U.S. Customs.
Taking the rental car over the border shouldn't be a problem. Be sure you have all the rental papers with you, and be sure that you have proper insurance coverage, either of your own, or through the rental.

wanderingTradr

You wont have a problem at all, other than the fingerprints which you may already have done if you entered in the states recently you should be good to go. I was living in Canada until I moved to ARgentina and they dont have probs with EU citizens

-marcello
http://www.wanderingtrader.com

AndrewDavid

thanks for your report. i took the train from vancouver to montreal when i was a student in the 70's and had a curtained upper bert which came out @ night and facilities down the corridor. i don't remember too much about the scenery from that trip but 2 summers ago i drove w/ a friend from victoria to toronto.

my favourite landscape and time was on the prairie which is neither completely flat nor treeless as all my bc friends ( who have not been ) seem to imagine it. it also has the advantage of the weather which was usually creating two or three different son et lumiere in different quadrants of the vast overarching sky

cheers
AndrewDavid