Niagara Falls
 

Does anyone know if you need to have your birth certificate to get into Canada or will a picture ID do?

You need both or a passport.

To get back into the U.S., you will need to have an original certified birth certificaste and picture I.D., unless you have a passport.

There are a few other options. You can find them on the U.S. Customs website:

http://tinyurl.com/men3o

They have been accepting a picture Driver's License for the last several months... no need for any more proof unless you have any criminal record or are a non-US citizen....

Also they have added Gamma Ray scanners to all lanes so don't try to sneak grandma over in the trunk... they can see a shadow profile of your entire car... that's how they have found millons of dollars in drugs in the last six months...

As of Jnauary 1 you will need a passport.

garyt22: Just because they don't always ask for a birth certificate doesn't mean you don't need one!!!!!!

I've had to produce mine at the border!

We entered/exited through Port Huron. They were extremely thorough and on our weekend you absolutely needed more than a Drivers Lic. (it was a Holiday weekend and also extra alerts have been called since the Toronto cell was
"busted".)

You will be asked questions and it just, IMHO, makes it easier for everyone on both sides to have the proper Birth Cert./Passport and proper papers as listed.

We are a couple that is not married and have different surnames. They asked us questions etc. both directions about how long we knew each other and also different aspects of this.

I'm making all my kids' kids etc. get passports that don't have them. You are going to need them more often soon.

Sorry - a driver's lic is not good enough - since it does not prove citizenship.

To get back into the US (getting into Canada is easy) you need to prove both that you are you (picture ID like lic or other government issued ID ) and proof of citizenship (either passport or official - not xerox- birth certificate).

You're going to need a passport for almost anyplace Jan 1 - so why not just get one now?

We were just in Niagara last weekend. On the way over to Canada, they just wanted my husband's license and car insurance/registration. On the way back into the states, they wanted that plus my proof of citizenship for all passengers (my passport, my husband's and 15 year old son's original birth cert). They had my son roll down the window so they could see him - the questioning was much more through coming back into the US...