Pasport to Canada?
I'm trying to get a pass port to Canada so i can drive up there for Spring Break. I've got some paperwork going...but i just dont know what to do. I'm doing this trip on my own and i have a place to stay and all that, but I'm worried about getting into Canada.
What should I do and how long does it take to get a passport?
Comments
This is confusing because they keep announcing things and then saying "actually, we are going to delay this now". However, I found this:
"As of JANUARY 31, 2008 U.S. and Canadian citizens will need to present either a government-issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license, plus proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate for land crossings"
So it looks like you won't need a passport just yet. But, if you are travelling by air you DO need one.
You will just need a valid Government Issued Photo ID and a birth certificate to go from the US to Canada and back. You do not need a passport as this has been delayed again. Normally it is taking 6 to 8 weeks for a passport so if you have applied for one, you could gt it back before you travel, it will depend on when your spring break is. If you are under 18 you may need a notarized letter stating that you are allowed to go over the border.
US and Canadian citizens have been given another temporary reprieve from needing the passport, mainly because the people in the passport offices on both sides of the border are trying to deal with the huge workload and backlog of passports to get out.
For example, many Canadian citizens (prior to 1970's) received their birth certificates from churches when they were baptised, and none of them have any official government birth certificates. I had to wait nearly nine months to get my legal birth certificate from the government so I could then apply for a passport and wait another month for that.
With regards to your spring break trip, you should be okay as long as you are driving across the border, taking a bus, train, or crossing by boat. The passport requirements for arrivals by LAND or SEA have been delayed until June 2008.
For AIR travel between USA and Canada, you already need a passport. This has been a requirement since September 2007.
The 1st 2 answers you got are correct and the 3rd one is wrong. You do not need a passport to travel to canada by LAND until a later date that has not yet been announced, but will not be until after next summer. see site below and read top half of page carefully for the correct, CURRENT INFO. This page was updated one week ago.