Trip to Canada

W

windywd

Registered Users (C)
Sorry,

Asking on behalf of my friend:

For GC holders, what is required if you travel by land from WA to Vancouver? I heard passport is required starting "Spring 2009"....

Not sure what is indeed needed, checked CBP website but in vain.

Oh, ok for USC also, what is required now?
 
windywd said:
Sorry,

Asking on behalf of my friend:

For GC holders, what is required if you travel by land from WA to Vancouver? I heard passport is required starting "Spring 2009"....

Not sure what is indeed needed, checked CBP website but in vain.

Oh, ok for USC also, what is required now?
Click to expand...

For GC holders they only need their GCs to enter the United States after a temporary trip abroad.
 
Common trend these days on this portal :)

windywd said:
Asking on behalf of my friend
Click to expand...

I would advise the US citizen to carry a passport. The GC holder should carry his/her GC and national passport.

windywd said:
For GC holders, what is required if you travel by land from WA to Vancouver? I heard passport is required starting "Spring 2009"....

Not sure what is indeed needed, checked CBP website but in vain.

Oh, ok for USC also, what is required now?
Click to expand...
 
Guys, this is what I found from CBP website through a little more digging:

*
ALL persons*, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.

*
Oral declarations are no longer accepted from U.S., Canadian or Bermudan travelers seeking to enter the U.S. by sea and/or land. Travelers will need to present a valid government issued ID and a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.

*
On June 1, 2009 all U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 16 and older traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), will be required to present a valid passport or other alternative documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 15 years old or younger will still be allowed to travel with just a copy of their birth certificate, as will teens between the age of 16-18 if they are part of an adult supervised school, religious, cultural or athletic group.

*
Lawful Permanent Residents (Green card holder's) do NOT need a passport to enter the United States, however you may need a passport to enter another country. Please contact the embassy of the foreign country you will be traveling to for their requirements.


http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs...CBwZXJtYW5lbnQgcmVzaWRlbnRz&p_li=&p_topview=1

So, if I understand correctly, I will need US passport as USC to enter US, while my friend (LPR) will not need a passport? This is interesting.
 
windywd said:
Guys, this is what I found from CBP website through a little more digging:

*
ALL persons*, including U.S. citizens, traveling by air between the United States and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda are required to present a valid passport, Air NEXUS card, or U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Document.

*
Oral declarations are no longer accepted from U.S., Canadian or Bermudan travelers seeking to enter the U.S. by sea and/or land. Travelers will need to present a valid government issued ID and a birth certificate or naturalization certificate.

*
On June 1, 2009 all U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 16 and older traveling between the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda by land or sea (including ferries), will be required to present a valid passport or other alternative documents as determined by the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. and Canadian citizens who are 15 years old or younger will still be allowed to travel with just a copy of their birth certificate, as will teens between the age of 16-18 if they are part of an adult supervised school, religious, cultural or athletic group.

*
Lawful Permanent Residents (Green card holder's) do NOT need a passport to enter the United States, however you may need a passport to enter another country. Please contact the embassy of the foreign country you will be traveling to for their requirements.


http://help.cbp.gov/cgi-bin/customs...CBwZXJtYW5lbnQgcmVzaWRlbnRz&p_li=&p_topview=1

So, if I understand correctly, I will need US passport as USC to enter US, while my friend (LPR) will not need a passport? This is interesting.
Click to expand...

Your understanding is correct. This has been discussed a number of times here.

This makes perfect sense if you think about it. The new rule was designed to stop citizens from using birth certificates and other documents to establish American citizenship at a port of entry. These are relatively unsecured documents which people can forge and which officers do not have much time to verify. A U.S. passport is much more trust-worthy. This is the rationale for the passport requirement.

For LPRs, the long-standing rule has been that you need to present your GCs. Now if you are flying in you also have to be fingerprinted. Your GC is a fully secured document. They can be confident about your bona fides. As far as the USCIS is concerned, what does a passport from another country add in terms of security? Nothing. Your passport is frankly unimportant (relatively).

Check out section 211 of the INA.
 
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Thankful,

What is "other alternative documents as determined by DHS"? Is enhanced DL going to work? As far as I know, only WA & NY have enhanced DL which is only available to USC.....
 
windywd said:
Thankful,

What is "other alternative documents as determined by DHS"? Is enhanced DL going to work? As far as I know, only WA & NY have enhanced DL which is only available to USC.....
Click to expand...

yes passport card issued by the state department and enhanced DLs issued by the states.
 
thankful said:
As far as the USCIS is concerned, what does a passport from another country add in terms of security? Nothing. Your passport is frankly unimportant (relatively).

Check out section 211 of the INA.
Click to expand...

I think as a frequent traveler i know that having a passport(foreign) makes the officer sure of the persons identity. As a matter of fact, at Dulles, if you show GC + RP or RTD, you are automatically sent to secondary. They dont even scan your GC..they ask you "you dont have a passport?" and then they put a yellow S on the customs form.

So passport is something good to have in my opinion even though you could enter US with only GC by land or air. They say ONLY GC needed for entry from land but I have been asked of a passport when coming through canada.
 
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wantmygcnow said:
I think as a frequent traveler i know that having a passport(foreign) makes the officer sure of the persons identity. As a matter of fact, at Dulles, if you show GC + RP or RTD, you are automatically sent to secondary. They dont even scan your GC..they ask you "you dont have a passport?" and then they put a yellow S on the customs form.

So passport is something good to have in my opinion even though you could enter US with only GC by land or air. They say ONLY GC needed for entry from land but I have been asked of a passport when coming through canada.
Click to expand...

Dulles? I do not think so. My Bible study group returned to the United States via Dulles two weeks ago and we had people with GCs only. Nobody was sent to secondary.
 
ok guys, get it. I will have to apply for a new one then. Just last week, my 3-year old nephew dumped mine into the toilet.
 
thankful said:
Dulles? I do not think so. My Bible study group returned to the United States via Dulles two weeks ago and we had people with GCs only. Nobody was sent to secondary.
Click to expand...

Thankful,

When I was entering as LPR, they do stamp my passport though.

I always wonder if they already know where I am coming from, since several times the IO did not ask me anything (yes, not even a word), but they did stamp on my passport.
 
I went to Canada by air last June and when coming back into the States I only showed my GC then INS officer(at canadian airport) ask me for my passport very insistently and then I showed him my RTD and everything was fine after that. Even when in theory GC is enough, most of the time, INS officers will demand to see you travel document.
 
I flew back from vancouver two weeks ago. I was met by an immigration officer at the vancouver airport and she only scanned my GC (and asked routine questions about how long you were away and stuffs). And this is consistent with my past experiences.
 
alright, i will have to act immediately then.

i guess it is better to enter smoothly than just hope nothing will happen.
 
GC only from Canada

just a question here. When I got asylum last year my lawyer told me I can never ever use my NP again. Are people that just the GC when I do get it will be good enough to go to Canada without and RTD? Or do I still Carry my NP if it is still valid?
 
Why are people leaving GCs and NPs in places where kids get them and cut them or flush them down the toilet? Haha. Hilarious. It's like flushing $300 dollars down the toilet.

Anyway, when I went to Canada by road, they asked for a passport both ways (I had an RTD).
 
I went to Vancouver through Seattle last September. They only asked for GC both ways. I did bring my RP with me, just in case.
 
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