Toronto - traveling in canada
Jul 18th, 2007, 01:06 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Toronto - traveling in canada
Just a few more questions about traveling in Canada. If we are driving from the US and Canada and back again, what identification do we need, just a license, or do we need a passport. When you get stopped at the border, what is the procedure, what kind of questions do they ask and how long does it take?
Jul 18th, 2007, 03:56 PM
#2
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi,
Passports are not yet required at land crossings. I drove to Buffalo airport from Niagara Falls, Ont. a few weeks ago and had no problems when I presented a driver's lic.
Depending on the day, it can take 30 minutes or 2 hours. Make sure you have a full tank of gas. They will ask things like your destination, how you know the people in your vehicle, that sort of thing.
Enjoy!
Passports are not yet required at land crossings. I drove to Buffalo airport from Niagara Falls, Ont. a few weeks ago and had no problems when I presented a driver's lic.
Depending on the day, it can take 30 minutes or 2 hours. Make sure you have a full tank of gas. They will ask things like your destination, how you know the people in your vehicle, that sort of thing.
Enjoy!
Jul 18th, 2007, 06:24 PM
#3
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Although passports are not yet required at land crossings, proof of citizenship is. Many people get away with a driver's license, I had many times, but then twice I was threatened with possible refused entry as driver's licenses are "not" proof of citizenship. You are supposed to have a birth certificate, or if you are a naturalized citizen, the appropriate papers.
Many people don't realize that proof of citizenship is the standard requirement, and years ago border guards were often pretty lenient about this. I wouldn't take the chance these days.
Many people don't realize that proof of citizenship is the standard requirement, and years ago border guards were often pretty lenient about this. I wouldn't take the chance these days.
Jul 18th, 2007, 09:59 PM
#6
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 916
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Also, in my experience at the border (but this is between BC and Washington state mind you), the typical conversation goes a little something like this:
Guard: "Citizenship?"
Me: "Canadian"
Guard: "Where are you going?"
Me: "Seattle"
Guard: "How long?"
Me: "until Monday"
Guard: "..."
Guard: "... alright, have a safe trip".
Literally, takes less than a minute. Sometimes it takes more than a minute, depending on how suspicious they are of you. Usually if you look like a tourist, and you're brief, to the point, and not being snarky (don't EVER be snarky or they'll make your life miserable) - you'll sail on through in no time at all.
Before 9/11 if you were Canadian or American, to be asked to prove your citizenship was practically unheard of, and they knew that nobody came with any type of proof of citizenship documents, so if ever there was a need to see ID, you could usually just show a drivers license and that would be it. But since 9/11 they are definitely strict. They may not necessarily ask to see it (and this is why people who mean well tend to say things like "Oh, just bring your drivers license, you'll be fine"
...
... but they really do ask to see these documents more than they ever had before. And if you're there at the border without the right documents, you run to the risk of being refused entry (or they'll tell you to park your car and come into the customs building and they'll lecture you or may do some more background information checks on you before they allow you across the border).
Guard: "Citizenship?"
Me: "Canadian"
Guard: "Where are you going?"
Me: "Seattle"
Guard: "How long?"
Me: "until Monday"
Guard: "..."
Guard: "... alright, have a safe trip".
Literally, takes less than a minute. Sometimes it takes more than a minute, depending on how suspicious they are of you. Usually if you look like a tourist, and you're brief, to the point, and not being snarky (don't EVER be snarky or they'll make your life miserable) - you'll sail on through in no time at all.
Before 9/11 if you were Canadian or American, to be asked to prove your citizenship was practically unheard of, and they knew that nobody came with any type of proof of citizenship documents, so if ever there was a need to see ID, you could usually just show a drivers license and that would be it. But since 9/11 they are definitely strict. They may not necessarily ask to see it (and this is why people who mean well tend to say things like "Oh, just bring your drivers license, you'll be fine"
...... but they really do ask to see these documents more than they ever had before. And if you're there at the border without the right documents, you run to the risk of being refused entry (or they'll tell you to park your car and come into the customs building and they'll lecture you or may do some more background information checks on you before they allow you across the border).
Jul 19th, 2007, 06:09 AM
#7
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 5,544
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In the last few weeks, we have crossed the bridge 4 times and have noticed an increasing tendency for the agents to question differently than the example given above... It seems there may be two factors involved... first, Homeland security has increased its training of agents to test the comfort of border crossers by asking offbeat questions to "throw off" those who may misrepresent their activity... an example of this occurred on three of my recent crossings when the agent asked several question about where we ate lunch, the location of the restaurant, and what kind of food was on the menu...this seems like idle chatter, but was repeated during all three crossings when we said lunch was the purpose of our crossing...
The second scenerio involves a labor action by the Canadian Customs personnel who are making their point by slowing the crossing process by holding some drivers for several minutes of questioning... we sat for over twenty minutes behind a driver while he was being cross-examined before being let thru... this resulted in an overall wait of over two hours to get across... this could be avoided by simply sending any suspicious vehicle to the secondary inspection... but....the point is well made by agents and no one can question their intent in this time of heightened fear...
In summary, don't misrepresent your intentions or hedge, be honest about acquisitions of products, be prepared for the curveball questions, and leave lots of time... have fun
The second scenerio involves a labor action by the Canadian Customs personnel who are making their point by slowing the crossing process by holding some drivers for several minutes of questioning... we sat for over twenty minutes behind a driver while he was being cross-examined before being let thru... this resulted in an overall wait of over two hours to get across... this could be avoided by simply sending any suspicious vehicle to the secondary inspection... but....the point is well made by agents and no one can question their intent in this time of heightened fear...
In summary, don't misrepresent your intentions or hedge, be honest about acquisitions of products, be prepared for the curveball questions, and leave lots of time... have fun
Jul 19th, 2007, 08:48 AM
#8
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 80
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just to elaborate on the "proof of citizenship" (passport or birth certificate) - even before 9/11 this was an issue. I've crossed the border many dozens of times - usually in Ontario, or out of Toronto Airport (there is a U.S. Customs checkpoint right in the Airport for U.S. bound planes). The first time I was threatened with refusal of entry due to only having a driver's license was in the mid 80's - I was flying to Miami. The second time was crossing the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor to Detroit, also in the 1980's. In both instances I was warned by the U.S. customs officers that a driver's license was not sufficient, and I had better carry birth certificate or passport in future.
Now - there had been many other times prior to this where there was no problem just showing my driver's license. But, I always carried a passport after these two incidents.
Now - there had been many other times prior to this where there was no problem just showing my driver's license. But, I always carried a passport after these two incidents.
