Now I need a passport to go to Canada?

[blockhead]

WTF? At least we're all safer now.:sarcasm:

[TomInTib]

1. You won't need one to go to Canada...

You will only need one to re-enter the US.

This is the first step to a national ID.

[blockhead]

2. I guess I understood that,

maybe I won't need one after all! I'll just stay.

[mmonk]

3. The state department expedited mine at the first of the year.

My family is ready anytime and my nephew will play in hockey Canada shortly.

[blockhead]

5. kinda sucks though,

I'm only 40 miles away and I bring my parents up there at least once a year to buy prescription drugs.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

10. Just got my new one today

Good to go -- so to speak... B-)

[flashlighter]

4. It actually makes it easier.

Using a birth certificate and picture ID is more time consuming than the passport. Once everyone has one, it will make lines at the border much faster.
If you don't have one, it is a pain to get, but it's well worth it: if you ever lose your wallet ( or don't drive like me for three years :(), you have a picture ID!

[blockhead]

6. I've never used a birth certificate,

just give them my license. not really any lines up here.

[Berry Cool]

13. Driver's licenses work if you're driving or they're not being too picky that day

But if you're taking the bus for some reason, it's always birth certificate, passport or bust. And I have seen people with expired visas get escorted right back across the border.

[Warpy]

7. My understanding is that it will be phased in by 2009

but it will start on air travel sooner.

Gee, I just love this country's superior freedom, don't you?

[Lex]

8. You'll be able to get something less than a full passport

to use just for Mexico and Canada, if you want.

The Passport Card (also referred to as the PASS Card): This limited-use passport in card format is currently under development and will be available for use for travel only via land or sea (including ferries) between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda. Similar in size to a credit card, it will fit easily into a wallet.

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cbpmc/cbpmc_2223.html

[Withywindle]

9. But why?

Just get a real passport! It's not that big a hassle, and they're well worth having.

[TreasonousBastard]

11. Even worse for some Canadians coming here...

Dunno if it's been straightened out since, but some time ago a I knew someone born in Sweden and came over to Canada with her family when she was 5 and was told she needed not only a passport but a visa to enter the US, since she was not a native born Canuckistanian.

Last I heard, she said "fuck it" and took her vacations in Cuba, where it was cheaper anyway.

[Canuckistanian]

18. Yeah, tourism companies are gonna LOVE this

Make it harder for $cash$-carrying visitors to cross the border, they LOVE that.

[sakabatou]

12. Whenever I go to another country

I ALWAYS bring my passport

[Canuckistanian]

14. You can come here and apply for refugee status

But you can't go back without one.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

15. Lived in Victoria for 18 years,

wonder if my social insurance number is still valid (landed immigrant status at the time)? :shrug:

[Canuckistanian]

17. Your health card is probably still valid

So c'mon up for a free proctoscope exam! It's on us!

[mondo joe]

16. Well you ARE going to another country.

I don't see the big deal.

[blockhead]

19. the big deal is...

It will cost me 350 bucks to buy passports for my family to get back into the U.S.. Been going to Canada semi-regularly 40+ years.

[mondo joe]

20. I grew up just on the US side and probably went to Canada 4 times a year.

Or more.

And yet it does not seem unreasonable to me to require a passport. It just seems to me to be something we got away with for a long time, but that time is over.

[blockhead]

21. I guess it is over,

still sucks

[SidDithers]

22. |No you don't...

you need a passport to come back from Canada.

Sid

[blockhead]

23. I guess it should read WHEN I go to Canada. n/t

[wordpix]

24. used to be you could show border guards on both sides your driver's license

My ex and I even got a new kayak across from US into Canada with his duty free maximum + mine. I easily talked the border guard into this. No longer. :(

[blockhead]

25. thats so true.

when I would go up there, I'd tell the Canadian side I was picking up medicine. Coming back down, the U.S. side didn't care about the drugs but were more concerned about if I had any beef.

[Hekate]

26. I think our fascists are walling us inside the US, with fear and laws and walls...

...All tucked up inside the land of the free and the home of the brave. Really makes me sad.

Hekate

[mnhtnbb]

27. Having a valid passport may just save your life. You will be able to get out quickly.

[dysfunctional press]

28. only for the return to the u.s. actually- and not if you drive.

only for flying back.

[mentalsolstice]

29. Just flew to Canada & back. Here's the lowdown...

From Birmingham, AL, we flew to Calgary on Dec. 23rd. We were asked for our passports at the B'ham airport and they were stamped. During our connecting flight from Las Vegas to Calgary, the flight attendant handed out a customs form, which more or less asked who you were and what you were bringing into Canada. Not a big deal, as we've flown through Canada before, and were familiar with the form. On the way back to the U.S., on Jan. 2d, we were asked again for our passports.

The biggest hassle is getting a passport to begin with. It costs around $100 and takes about 12+ weeks to get. You have to prove U.S. citizenship, which for most people means presenting a birth certificate, and unless you have one readily available, well, you have to fork out that expense. And you have to have a passport photo made. Since applying for my passport and having my photo made, I've lost about 110 pounds, so I got a second look or two when I presented it on this last trip.

BTW, I can't say enough for Banff, Canada! Great vacation spot! Well, it was f'ing great!

[wordpix]

30. Canadian Rockies---my second home. Great place on the planet. On the Iceflds Pkway

one of the glaciers has melted back about 1/2 mi. in 25 yrs.

[maine_raptor]

31. Here's an interesting little problem: re Passports/Canada.

Up north of me there is a golf course in Fort Kent, Me. The front nine and pro shop is in the US. The back nine and the clubhouse (and bar) is in Canada. It was built that way during Prohibition. So does that now mean that I'll need a passport to play there?

[blockhead]

32. so much for reciprocity. n/t