Drive from Michigan into Canada

[riverdale]

I am planning a trip from MI to Connecticut, and the shortest route is through Canada. What do I need to get through the border? I don't have a current passport.
Thanks

[handmade34]

1. get a passport if you must go through Canada

I have made that trip dozens of times in the past(no passport needed then). (Just talking today about the number of times I've been to Niagara Falls) The last time, after 9/11, I had my young son with me and he had no ID -silly me. A nightmare ensued. We got stuck on the Canadian side for a couple of hours waiting for them to determine that I had kidnapped my own son. We then got turned back and were held on the Detroit side for a couple of hours waiting for them to determine that I had kidnapped my own son... I was upset, to say the least. As much as I hate the drive through Cleveland, it is better than getting stuck at the border. Good Luck, Happy trails!

http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.gov/passport_requirement.asp

[1gobluedem]

2. You need a passport

Last year you would have been all right with a copy of your birth certificate but I think a passport became mandatory on June 1.

[SharonRB]

3. You need a passport or an enhanced driver's license, which

is not available to people in Connecticut. It's only available in a handful of states, including Michigan.

[sarcasmo]

4. Enhanced Drivers License is cheaper if you live in Michigan.

Forty five dollars, you need your birth certificate, SS card and Drivers License and then head to the Secretary of State, waste about a half hour of your life and get your Enhanced, coded License in the mail.

[cyborg1966]

5. Papers please...

You have to have a passport unless you live in a border state. The passport is not to get into Canada, but to get back into the US.

I live in Michigan, within walking distance of the border. I don't go across as much as I used to, because since 9/11 the border guards on the US side too often behave like Gestapo wannabes and treat me like a criminal just because I went to Canada. I rarely have trouble on the Canadian side.

I've been crossing the border for 20+ years, and I've learned a few things about border guards, both American and Canadian.

Don't volunteer information they don't ask for.

Don't joke about anything.

Don't be a smartass.

Answer every question truthfully.

Returning - keep what you purchased in Canada in sight and KEEP YOUR SALES RECEIPTS!!!!

Canada - they almost always ask if you've got any weaponry, from firearms down to pepper spray.

Avoid taking tobacco and alcohol either way if you can help it, unless you bought it at the duty free shop, in which case they'll already know you've got it.

You'll see quite a few skin mags in Canada that you probably wouldn't see here. Don't try to bring any back across. They can be confiscated, and depending on content, you can be prosecuted.

Don't try to bring any Cuban cigars back. If you so desire, smoke them in Canada.

Don't bring media of a political nature back. I haven't been across since Obama was elected, but last summer I was held for almost 90 minutes largely because I had a Toronto newspaper that had some anti-Bush editorials in it. If you buy any sort of books by Canadian authors questioning US policies, mail them home.

US Customs now have the authority to confiscate your cellphone, laptop, etc., without giving you a reason why, and they don't have to give it back to you.

US Customs officers are armed and have arrest powers. Canadian Customs officers are not armed (though this may change) and do not have arrest powers (though they can hold you for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police).

On the US side, many federal courts (though not the Supreme Court) have ruled that Customs officers have virtually unlimited powers of investigation. The Fourth Amendment does not apply.

Good luck.

[dmr]

11. What about prescriptions?

Can you get them filled in Canada and bring them back home? Not that I have any scripts to be filled, but am curious.

Has anyone ever crossed over at Sault Ste. Marie? Am thinking about going over a few months.

[maddogesq]

6. They have the Passport Card at $60.

A guitar player I work with got this one, which kind of looks like a drivers license. He must cross over to play in Windsor once a week. This allows you to cross, but N. America only. If you want to do more than that, spend the $90 for the big one.

[SharonRB]

7. I think the enhanced driver's license is $45

It does the same thing as this passport card.

:hi:

[GreenEyedLefty]

14. This is correct.

Be sure to bring the right paperwork, and prepare to answer some really dumb questions.

[skipos]

8. Going from Canada to the US via Windsor sucks

the guards there have been aggressive and abrasive every time I have gone through. Sarnia is much more pleasant, and shorter lines.

[1gobluedem]

9. Yes, the crossing at the Blue Water Bridge is far less stressful

If you can cross there, I recommend it instead of Windsor.

[auntAgonist]

10. I applied for and got my Cdn Passport. I understood

that I need it to return the USA after visiting family in Canada. I always cross at the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron/Sarnia. I have my Permanent Resident ID card as proof that I live and work legally in the USA. Apparently according to the man in the booth (he was immigration) I didn't need to show him my passport when entering the USA, only my PermRes card.


I'm not sure I trust what he said so I'll continue to carry both.

aA
kesha
:hi:

[a1phanum3ric]

12. crossing into canada

This is absolutly rediculous. I have a 4 year old D.U.I, and am denied entry to canada. My girlfiend and kids live right over the border and I can only see them when they come to detriot after I fly from california were I live. I do this once a month and would love to go their just once, Which is the most relaxed border crossing in Michigan. Please help.. Please

[Motown_Johnny]

13. I went to school in NY near Connecticut and I live in Detroit

It is faster and easier to go through Ohio and Pennsylvania.

[cyclezealot]

15. We are Americans who live in Europe..

While in the US returning from Canada to the US, the agent discovered we are Americans living in Europe.. He got really, really snippy. So much so, it was hard not to talk back. When they appear that much over the edge, bit your tongue.. Particularly in Detroit.

[spartan61]

16. When I lived in Connecticut and would drive to my parents'

home in Michigan, we would take I-84 to Scranton, Pa then I-81 S to I-80. Then take I-80 through PA and Ohio. When we came to Toledo, we would then take I-75 into MI. No passport needed and no long lines waotomg to cross the border.