border crossing
 

We will be coming into Canada this weekend and don't know what border crossing is like. What IDs do we need? How long is it taking now? We will be crossing from Michigan. <BR>Thanks for your help.

it really depends on where you're from. assuming you're american, all you need is proof or citizenship, so a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization papers - most times the canadians are nice and will let you in w/o asking for ID or will accept a driver's license but considering the LOOOONG wait you'll have getting back into the US, that's where they may require the official ID's like a passport, birth certificate, or naturalization paper. If you want to know crossing times, call the border directly.

you can also check http://www.ambassadorbridge.com/ to see what the delay times are going either way. it's updated hourly i think. my husband and i are going this weekend too and we were wondering the same thing about ids and whatnot. neither of us can find our birth certificates. ugh!

My family is planning to go to Quebec City over Thanksgiving (U.S.) but we are unclear on the boarder status. We will be going through Vermont and are aware that the VT boarder has recently been closed. Does this happen often? Will the wait be long?

During the weekends, the border crossing takes a bit longer than during the weekdays, and during holidays, the border crossings always have long(er) waits. <BR> <BR>But for instance, over here on the west coast in Vancouver, BC - the BC/Washington Peace Arch crossing only took 10 minutes northbound, and 10 minutes southbound. It's not long at all.

Really depends on the weekend. We crossed at the Peace Arch into Washington on the Saturday morning of the Labour Day weekend. Got through quickly, but we noticed a long lineup to get into BC. The next day (Sunday of the long weekend), we crossed back into Canada and had to wait probably 1/2 hours. This was obviously before September 11.

Bottom line to anyone crossing the US/Canada border by car is - carry absolute proof of citizenship; Passport, Birth Certificate, Naturalization Card, or some notarized document combined with picture ID. Also check ahead for wait time on the links above. In most places there are alternatives close by that will save a lot of time. Finally, the Americans especially have never had much of a sence of humour even before 911 and have always been on a power trip. Don't ever try to be cute with them and treat them with the same respect you'd treat someone who holds your life in his or her hands - I think they like to think they do.

Jackie: call your car insurance agent and tell him you are going to canada. You may need proof of insurance if anything happens in Canada. Sure hope nothing does.

We went through customs 10/13 and 10/18 and the lines were short and the guards were polite and quick about it,they asked us where we were from and where we were staying.On the way back into the US, they looked in our trunk.We took passports, but they didn't even ask to see our licenses.I don't know if that is good or bad, but it made for a quick and easy border crossing.

Sorry-that crossing was at the Champlain crossing/NY State.

If you're using a birth certificate for ID and you're married, bring along a copy of your marriage certificate, also. Your name isn't the same any more.

Either the border guards on the West Coast are easing up or they are doing pretty direct profiling, (arabs &/or muslims), because most of the anecdotal and personal accounts of border crossings now are almost as lax as pre 911. Last week I wasn't asked for ID of any kind and there was only a cursory check of my trunk and rear seat. And the guard had never seen me before. Coming back into Canada was only slightly more intense but of course it always was for returning Canadians. <BR> <BR>At YVR, (Vancuver International), I was also surprised to find that the intensity of the handluggage check was really only marginally more than pre 911. Should we be concerned???? There are a lot of Arabs and even more Muslims who could pass for Northern Europeans. By the way - for those who think I am being racist by pinpointing Arabs & Muslims as potential terrorists all I can say is get real.

gary <BR>you are a racist and i hope with all my heart that you are american,if u were canadian,then im ashamed that someone from our beautiful multicultural country could be so blatantly or seemingly innocently racist .What has the horrible septemebr 11 tragedy done to some people?I just dont know.

Gary-you say "returning Canadians"-if that means you are Canadian, then you are someone to be ashamed of.In my many trips to Canada, small towns and big cities, I have never met people that are so welcoming and friendly to everyone..Being from NYC,and enjoying talking to the people in the towns we visit- we chatted with cab drivers and people working in hotels, the one consistent impression was that Canada has welcomed people from all over the world and they have happily blended in with the population.Last week we met a couple of Lebanese cab drivers, who have lived in Canada for years and spoke perfect French and were so proud of their country-Canada-and I am sure Canada would be proud of them,regardless of their ethnic background-sadly, the same cannot be said of you.

From what I have seen at the land crossing in Alberta, everyone is being asked to provide proof of citizenship unless they are well known by the border guards which is the case for me. Passports and such are scrutinized to ensure that they are not forged (to the best of their ability anyhow). I haven't seen any evidence of rascism but there is probably some of that going on. I just haven't seen it and pray that I don't. Expect a bit longer lines and waits.

I am perfectly willing to acept - no, I'm certain - that the majority of Canadian and American Arabs and Muslims are aghast at what happened on 911 and ambarrased and ashamed that it was perpetrated by people of their own race and religion. <BR> <BR>But to ignore the fact that there are tens of millions of Arabs and Muslims in the world who hate the west and Jews with an unimagianable passion and further to ignore the fact that virtually all the terrorist activity in North America, (with the very notable exception of Oklahoma City), has been perpetrated by those people is taking political correctness to a very dangerous level. <BR> <BR>Targeting or 'profiling' those people is simply common sence - like saying that Pit Bulls are generally more dangerous than Golden Retrievers. <BR> <BR> <BR>Finally I'm not saying that Arabs and Muslims are inherantly or genetically inclined to terrorism . I agree that would be racist. Those fanatical terrorists have been raised on a steady diet of venemous hatred that began in their schools, ( in many parts of the middle east hezbollah and Hamas operate the school system), continue on in the mosques and is further supported by the oppresive dictatorships who keep the populace focus away from their corrupt and evil regimes by focusing their attention on blaming the West and Israel for all their misfortunes. <BR> <BR>If recognising that makes me a racist I would rather be that then naive.

Gary <BR>As a canadian jew,i think u are a disgrace to talk about genetics and race,that remind sme chillingly of something that happened half a century ago.By the way University geneticists in the UK found the Arabs and Jews the closest 2 peoples genetically on earth more than scandinavians,i hope this gives u something to think about <BR>Shame on you.

Gary,As yet another Casnadian Jew,Iam humiliated that a Jewish person like yourself can be so racist,Today it's the Arabs ,like it was us in the past and the cycle goes on and who knows when it will be our turn again.Gary,In Montreal where I live Arab canadians make up more than 15% of the population,I have many many dear friends among them and they are as proudly Canadian as iam,so please stop your casual hate-mongering,it reflects as badly on jews as it does on yourself. <BR>Jews should be the last people on earth to support profiling of any kind.And remember that 5 israeli students were arrested in NYC recently by the NYPD and were allegedly badly treated because they looked Arab(they were actually Israeli jews of yemeni origin),and the Israeli consulate in NYC lodged a strong protest,so you see my friend how terribly wrong you are.By the way I have black hair and a black beard myself and i could be easily taken for an Arab,Italian,Jew or Portuguese and I've never felt prouder of who Iam that right now.please Gary give this a thought or better,get yourself an Arab friend or a visit the many Arab-jewish friendship centers across Canada.Wish the US had some of those.

Jeez guys - read again what I said. I specifically stated that 'Arabs and Muslims ARE NOT genetically or inherantly inclined to terrorism' and that to say so would be racist. What I said was that a large group of them have been raised on a steady diet of hatred and venom towards the West and Israel. Are you actually challenging that? <BR> <BR>Furthermore I started this by saying that I suspect border guards are profiling and perhaps that is a mistake because not all potential terrorists look like Arabs and Muslims even when they are. I do feel though that profiling is certainly a tool that we cannot afford to ignore since the vast majority of terrorist activity of late has been commited by a certain group and again I ask - are you challenging me on this? <BR> <BR>Finally I am a Jewish Canadian from Vancouver where there is a large Ismaelli community. This group of Muslims from Iran are some of the finest people I have ever met and while I would strongly suspect as Muslims they are not great supporters of Israel I have always enjoyed doing business with them and believe as Canadians we are all entitled to our strong Political beliefs without making us enemies. This tolerance ends however when anyone takes there political beliefs and uses violence as a form of expressing them and that includes anti-globilization activists just as much as Islamic Fundamentalists. So am I still a racist?? <BR> <BR>Frankly I feel that I'm owed an apology.

Sure Gary-after you apologize to the Americans for saying that we never had a sense of humor before 9/11-anyone else you want to offend? Come on, there must be someone else out there that doesn't meet your standards of excellence? and I have a wuestion for such an authority of the Muslim/Arab look in Canada, isn't Islam a religion, like Judaism, you don't have to look like one to be one? Just to let you know, I am blonde blue eyed, Swedish ancestory, and Jewish...and I have met Afghanis in NYC with fine features, no facial hair, blue eyes, and they are Muslim-stop your own profiling!