Your Experience?

[jnwong]

Hi, my friend and her husband would like to take a 1-week auto trip to Vancouver, Canada for vacation. They have not been there before and are holding green card.

Does anybody have any recent experience with land crossings at the US/Canadian border? What needs to be brought other than green card? e.g. documentation of how green card was obtained, current employers letters, pay checks?

Also, do they need to carry their own passports as well for getting back to the US (as they had heard US immigration only check green card)? Anything that they will need to be cautious about to avoid hassels?

Please share your recent experience, thank you.

[nkm-oct23]

Originally posted by jnwong
Hi, my friend and her husband would like to take a 1-week auto trip to Vancouver, Canada for vacation. They have not been there before and are holding green card.

Does anybody have any recent experience with land crossings at the US/Canadian border? What needs to be brought other than green card? e.g. documentation of how green card was obtained, current employers letters, pay checks?

Also, do they need to carry their own passports as well for getting back to the US (as they had heard US immigration only check green card)? Anything that they will need to be cautious about to avoid hassels?

Please share your recent experience, thank you.

You only need a passport and your green card. No other documents are required.

[jnwong]

Some people who have been to Canada said only green card is needed when driving across the border back to the US. Is it true? Can anybody share experience?

[nkm-oct23]

Originally posted by jnwong
Some people who have been to Canada said only green card is needed when driving across the border back to the US. Is it true? Can anybody share experience?

Does your friend have a problem carrying his passport??

[jnwong]

Not at all. They just want to make it clear.

[GCDreamer2000]

The green card's only value when entering Canada is as proof of your U.S. permanent resident status and hence exemption from needing a visitor visa to enter. It is not recognized by Canada as proof of your nationality / citizenship, which is why you need your passport (or other acceptable proof of nationality if your citizenship if you're American).

When you enter Canada, you will inevitably be asked your citizenship and status in the U.S. At land border crossings, they may accept your verbal response alone and may not ask to see your passport and / or green card -- sometimes just a flash of both or either satifies them without actually handing them over. But, you can't count on this and would be very foolish to attempt to cross any border without the documentation in hand. You risk being refused entry (which may also open you to greater chance of more scrutiny on subsequent visits). At airports, the scrutiny is far greater and more consistent: expect to produce both.

My experience with returning to the U.S. is similar. At land border crossings, a flash of the PR card is sometimes enough, and sometimes they scan it. I've never been asked for my passport in addition to my green card at a land border re-entry into the U.S.(but then, I'm Canadian so that might make a difference). At airports, I typically only produce my green card and wait for them to ask for the passport (about half of the time they ask for that as well).

[GCDreamer2000]

The green card's only value when entering Canada is as proof of your U.S. permanent resident status and hence exemption from needing a visitor visa to enter. It is not recognized by Canada as proof of your nationality / citizenship, which is why you need your passport (or other acceptable proof of nationality if your citizenship if you're American).

When you enter Canada, you will inevitably be asked your citizenship and status in the U.S. At land border crossings, they may accept your verbal response alone and may not ask to see your passport and / or green card -- sometimes just a flash of both or either satifies them without actually handing them over. But, you can't count on this and would be very foolish to attempt to cross any border without the documentation in hand. You risk being refused entry (which may also open you to greater chance of more scrutiny on subsequent visits). At airports, the scrutiny is far greater and more consistent: expect to produce both.

My experience with returning to the U.S. is similar. At land border crossings, a flash of the PR card is sometimes enough, and sometimes they scan it. I've never been asked for my passport in addition to my green card at a land border re-entry into the U.S.(but then, I'm Canadian so that might make a difference). At airports, I typically only produce my green card and wait for them to ask for the passport (about half of the time they ask for that as well).