Crossing the border these days...

[oogs]

So my team has a game this weekend in Niagara, (US) and we wanna go over to Canada for a good night and good times.

how hard are they reinforcing the passport thing..

i know it was made official.. but how strictly is it enforced?

I went over late last year, and my friend had his license only.. and he was just asked where he was born, and what he's doing here.

[dufferin]

Man . They think my parents are like terrorists because they are german. We spend like an hour at the border. I hates.

[Spidey]

Not official yet, at least in Detroit, all you should need is a bith cert.

[Southpaw]

I know in order to enter the US from Canada you need a valid passport OR a driver's licence AND birth certificate. If you have this I would assume it is enough to enter Canada.

[puckpatrol43]

They are never going to let you back in.

[goalies-r-us]

Official photo ID (state-issued driver license or ID card) and proof of citizenship (sealed birth certificate, meaning the kind with the "raised bumps" where the county clerk used the official embosser) are all you need if you don't have a passport and you're traveling by land. This is good for both the US side and the Canadian side.

We travel thru Ontario going from Michigan to NY state and back to visit MIL just outside of Niagara, and we have only ever had trouble the very first time, back in 2002, when it didn't occur to us that passing through Canada was "entering a foreign country". (When the Canadian customs agent made that statement, it took all my willpower to keep from saying, "we're not going to a foreign country, we're going to CANADA, for crying out loud!" Growing up in Michigan my entire life, Ontario is "right next door" and doesn't seem "foreign" to me at all, other than the money looks kinda funny compared to ours! )

Particularly when crossing at Niagara, they're used to lots of tourists coming and going, and they're pretty nice there. (got into a very pleasant conversation with a US agent at 3:00 a.m. once, discussing our MILs)

Sometimes they don't ask to see your papers, but if they DO ask, you'd better have them or they "strip search" your poor vehicle! (that's what happened the very first time... and we have always made sure to have birth certificates with us ever since, and nary a problem)

[ThePM]

Originally Posted by dufferin

Man . They think my parents are like terrorists because they are german. We spend like an hour at the border. I hates.

Try being middle-eastern. I'll put it this way -- 'random' security checks my ass. I'm a born and bred Canadian, and both of my parents are Canadian citizens for 20+ years. Yet we always seem to get stopped... hmm.

[DRE75HABS]

I used to get bugged. Lots. Then I got Nexus.

[Sparkles]

Originally Posted by puckpatrol43

They are never going to let you back in.

The Canadian guard really wanted a piece of Nick. He must've heard how Nick likes it rough--- from Nick's boss.

[Keeps33]

easy, bring birth certificate and photo id. be nice and your should be ok.

[puckpatrol43]

Originally Posted by Sparkles

The Canadian guard really wanted a piece of Nick. He must've heard how Nick likes it rough--- from Nick's boss.

He needs to get a job at Microsoft.

[Sparkles]

I don't think Bill Gates will give the kind of Xmas bonus Nick wants.

[TIMMAAYY]

I'd get the passport and get it over with; I heard something on the radio today about traveling South of the US and needing a passport. When in doubt, go with the surefire option.

[Holy the Goalie]

Originally Posted by ThePM

Try being middle-eastern. I'll put it this way -- 'random' security checks my ass. I'm a born and bred Canadian, and both of my parents are Canadian citizens for 20+ years. Yet we always seem to get stopped... hmm.

Mine's not as bad as yours, but it still sucks. I was flying back from Boston the day after those idiots decided to bring inflammable fluids on the plane to blow it up (and forever ruined it for those of us that want to bring a bottle of water on a plane). During the "random" security checks, they "randomly" selected:

a. Two black guys

b. A middle eastern family of three

c. A mexican guy traveling by himself

d. Me (shaved head, pierced labret, thick but not (too) fat).

They didn't "randomly" select any of the "American" families, elderly, or women. Go figure.

The funniest part was when they searched my empty water bottle. The Mensa-candidate working the line opened it, looked into it, looked at me, looked back into it, held it upside down to make sure that she hadn't missed the water I had hidden in it, looked back at me, SHOOK IT (again, to get the water out), looked in it, and then handed it to me.

TSA should stand for Tons of Stupid *******s.

[RebelGoalie27]

So this summer, we're renting a van for 10 of us to head up for a bachelor weekend. We're going to stop in Niagara for some gambling and then move on to Toronto for the weekend.

How's the gambling in Niagara?

Is The Brass Rail still fully operational in TOR?

We can get by with birth certs and driver's licenses?

How is the border with getting Cubans and some of that high-octane Canadian beer back across?