May I see your passport, please

[rumpleforeskiin]

From today's Burlington (VT) Free Press

What you need to cross the border

Just one of these documents should ease your trip across the U.S./Canada border:

Passport ($97) Trusted Traveler cards such as NEXUS ($50 individual; $244.50 family) U.S. Military Identification with Military Travel Orders U.S. Merchant Mariner Document; Native American Tribal Photo Identification Card; U.S. Passport Card ($45)

NO PASSPORT? For adults age 19 and older without a passport or one of the above-mentioned documents, you need BOTH a: Government-issued photo ID, such as a driver's license with photo, name and date of birth -- or a military identification card, AND Proof of citizenship, such as a U.S. or Canadian birth certificate issued by a federal, state, provincial, county, territory or municipal authority; or U.S. Consular report of birth abroad; or U.S. Certificate of Naturalization; or U.S. Certificate of Citizenship; or U.S. Citizen Identification Card.

BRINGING THE KIDS? U.S. and Canadian citizens age 18 and older must present a passport ($82) or a birth certificate or a naturalization certificate.

NOT A CITIZEN? U.S. Lawful Permanent Residents must present a Permanent Resident Card (I-551) or other valid evidence of lawful permanent residence. Travelers other than U.S. and Canadian citizens must abide by all existing passport and nonimmigrant visa requirements.

NEED HELP? Passport applications (U.S. Department of State): Tracking down birth certificates (National Center for Health Statistics): Information on how to apply for a Trusted Traveler card (NEXUS) can be found at Customs and Border Protection:

 

[Uncle Kracker]

I just have to wonder, in this day-and-age, who doesn't have a passport?

 

[metoo4]

UK, to answer your question, lots of peoples!

Who need a passport when they never left the country or don't intend to do so in the short term?

Not everybody travels for business and not everybody have the money to go south every winter!

I know a shitload of peoples who don't have a passport and they're in no way loosers or on welfare! They just don't travel outside of the country!

 

[Uncle Kracker]

Valid points.... I just figured, with all the reports coming out stating that at some point they'll become maditory to cross the border, people would at least get the applications in.

I mean, I didn't get mine until I had tickets to Europe. But back then there wasn't even a mention of them being needed for Canada. Now that there is, it just seems to make more sense to get one rather then go through more of a hassle at the border.

And my comments weren't made to discredit anyone that didn't have one, I wasn't questioning people's finacial state. More just just stating the convenience factor. We can sit here forever and argue whether or not there's a NEED for passports between Canada & US, that won't change the fact that if someone shows up at the border without one they'll go through a lot more bullshit then someone that got a passport. And me personally, I like getting across with as few issues as possible.

Just my opinion of course...

 

[Blue man]

This subject interests me a great deal as some of us undercover agents prefer to NOT use passports. I like to venture over from Vermont on a semi-regular basis, and choose to limit the paper trail. I have a passport, but of course do not want it stamped for all to see. I can imagine that conversation from my barely significant other since I don't speak french.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

This subject interests me a great deal as some of us undercover agents prefer to NOT use passports. I like to venture over from Vermont on a semi-regular basis, and choose to limit the paper trail. I have a passport, but of course do not want it stamped for all to see. I can imagine that conversation from my barely significant other since I don't speak french.

They don't stamp your passport at the Canadian border.

 

[Blue man]

Rumple...Hmmmm...you just made me a very happy man

 

[bumfie]

I have had my passport stamped a number of times at the Canadian border in B.C.

Is there some kind of official policy against doing it in Quebec?

 

[infanticide]

They don't stamp your passport at the Canadian border.

This isn't totally true. I've crossed by car at the I-87 NY border crossing 8 times, and I've had my passport stamped once. So while rare, it does on occasion happen that you get your passport stamped.

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

This isn't totally true. I've crossed by car at the I-87 NY border crossing 8 times, and I've had my passport stamped once. So while rare, it does on occasion happen that you get your passport stamped.

I've never crossed there. I've crossed at Highgate VT over 100 times, though I've only started carrying my passport in the last month or two. I'm never asked more than 2-3 questions, never at the booth more than 45 seconds. And my passport has yet to be stamped.

 

[bumfie]

I just checked my passport....indeed, it has two stamps from the border at 1-87. Hmmmm..I wonder how long it would take for you to be turned back if you said "Would you mind not stamping my passport?"

BTW, I recently had a huge hassle at the border after countless times crossing without a problem. Reason? Minor dope arrest....1974. Charges were dropped.

I was threatened with arrest for not revealing it immediately, and told if I don't mention it next time I will be sent back and banned.

I have no other record.

 

[EagerBeaver]

bumfie,

The only time that they will stamp the passport is if you are detained by customs and immigration. Ironically, the last time I was detained by C&I was at the Vermont border a couple years ago, and Rumpleforeskin, who started this thread, was a witness to me getting detained. He happened to be behind me in the line and recognized my personal vehicle, which has since been replaced. He then came into the C&I building and observed me getting interrogated. If I go and check my passport and assuming it was stamped on that date, I will be able to figure out when that happened. It was probably late 2005 or early 2006.

Not revealing the old dope arrest is a no-no, as if they catch you bullshitting them on that, they will assume you are a bullshitter who is bullshitting on all your responses. It is certainly grounds for irritation with you and further intensive questioning, no matter how trivial the old dope arrest may seem to you. They put the fear of God in you now, so don't fuck with them next time.

 

[bumfie]

Good advice, EB. My assumption is that I should just not volunteer the information but should just answer frankly if asked if I have ever been arrested.
I am assuming they will consider more than 30 years sufficient time for me to be rehabilitated. I have had nothing else since then.

This really stunned me. I had pretty much forgotten about it. It does make me worry that I will be refused even if I disclose it.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Bumfie,

In this age of the Internet there is no such thing as any legal skeleton remaining in someone's closet. It amazes me the information my private investigator is able to get on people using Internet searches, so everyone should assume that the Canadian border authorities know everything. There are databases that store info on arrests even when charges are dropped, and that information stays on the net for everyone to see. Nothing you can do about it, except don't get arrested.

I have a clean record but a few years ago when I got detained, I had this customs dude hounding me about DUI arrests. I told him "no" like 3 times, and he said to me, "I am going to check on the computer and if it comes back with a DUI arrest, I am not going to be happy." I told him, "you can search all day dude, you aren't going to find anything."

 

[bumfie]

They did the same with me. Asked me repeatedly about drunken driving arrests. I have never been arrested for any level of DUI, and I do not drive drunk. I couldn't understand why, if they could see my whole record, they kept asking.

I was told in court that my record would be sealed if I completed six months without incident. Well, I completed almost 35 years without incident, and apparently the record wasn't sealed at all.

I know this is off the topic of passports, but I think it is good 411 for the Americans to know things ain't what they used to be. And if you have a drunk driving arrest, chances are you are going to be turned around.

 

[EagerBeaver]

And if you have a drunk driving arrest, chances are you are going to be turned around.

This is true, although it can be avoided by going to the Canadian consulate and obtaining a waiver, for which you have to pay about $300 I believe. More info about this can be found at the U.S. State Department Bureau of Consular Affairs website:

http://www.travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1082.html

"Driving while impaired (DWI) is a serious offense in Canada . Penalties are heavy, and any prior conviction (no matter how long ago or how minor the infraction) is grounds for exclusion from Canada . Americans with a DWI record must seek a waiver of exclusion from Canadian authorities before traveling to Canada , see http://www.cbsa.gc.ca, which requires several weeks or months to process. It is illegal to take automobile radar detectors into Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, the Yukon or the Northwest Territories, regardless of whether they are used or not. Police there may confiscate radar detectors, operational or not, and impose substantial fines."

 

[infanticide]

My passport was stamped without me being called into the interrogation area.

 

[leahhouston]

vermont/new york back roads. Can you cross here without even going through the border stops. Of course this would be "illegal" but do they patrol those many back roads into rural quebec?

 

[rumpleforeskiin]

There are border checkpoints at three different points between the Champlain NY crossing and the Highgate VT crossing. There is another one just east of Highgate. At each of these, there are government agents from both countries ready and willing to assist you.

 

[Doc Holliday]

A few years ago, the cops showed up at my house & asked if they could ask me a few questions. They had got me out of bed very early in the morning & i wasn't very pleased, but i agreed to let them in since i knew why they were there for. An acquaintance of mine had recently passed away under suspicious circumstances & i figured they wanted me to clarify a few things for them. About 10 minutes into the interview, i began to realize that some of the questions were becoming stranger by the minute & seemed like the type of questions you'd ask a suspect. "Am I a suspect for murder?", i asked the cops. They looked at one another & it appeared that they didn't really know how to answer me. So i asked them again "am i a suspect?" Finally, one of them sighed & told me that i wasn't YET a suspect. I then told them that maybe it was time for me to contact a lawyer, but they replied that none was necessary since they had pretty much concluded their interview & advised me they might return for more questions in the future.

They came back the next day, arrested me for suspicion of accessory to murder, and after a plea-bargain I wound up serving 10 years in jail.

Just kidding folks!

The cops never returned & the death was ruled a suicide, which it was. But the reason i'm telling this story is because i'm wondering if this 'interview' will ever show up on a custom agent's computer, even though i was never charged for anything? By the way, i received several speeding tickets over my lifetime. Do these show up & do i have to declare them at the border?