Passport for US to Canada?

[Guartho]

Just a quick one for the more well-traveled denizens of the board... Do I need to get a passport to travel from the US to Canada these days?

 

[sojourner]

Yes. Went there last summer.

 

[RoJoHen]

Sure do. They changed that law a few years back.

 

[Colonel Green]

Not 100% true. Some provinces (and I would assume some states) have "enhanced" drivers licenses which can serve as a passport alternative. They include an RFID chip.

*edit* Here we go:

Additionally, some states, mostly those with an international border, are issuing Enhanced Driver Licenses and Enhanced ID Cards. Enhanced licenses combine a regular driver's license with the specifications of the new Federal passport card. Thus, in addition to proving driving privileges, the enhanced license also is proof of U.S. citizenship, and can therefore be used to cross the Canadian and Mexican borders by road, rail, or sea, although air travel will always require a traditional passport book due to International Civil Aviation Organization regulations.[25] The enhanced licenses are also fully Real ID compliant.
As of May 2009, Vermont, New York, Michigan and Washington are issuing enhanced driver's licenses and ID cards.[26]
On March 27, 2008, the Secretary of Homeland Security announced that Washington's enhanced driver's license[27] was the first such license approved under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative;[28] according to a Homeland Security press release, the department is also working with Arizona authorities to develop enhanced driver's licenses.[29] On September 16, 2008, New York began issuing Enhanced Drivers Licenses that meet WHTI requirements. Texas was expected to also implement an enhanced driver's license program, but the program has been blocked by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, despite a state law authorizing the Texas Department of Public Safety to issue EDLs and a ruling by the state attorney general, Greg Abbott, that Texas' production of EDLs would comply with federal requirements.[30][31]

Your drivers licence may, depending on how new it is and what state issued it. Probably worth looking into if you're planning to cross by car, rail or ferry.

 

[Guartho]

Thanks guys. I know my license doesn't have a chip, and we'll be going by air anyway so I definitely need to get a real one stat.

 

[Hoser]

Just a quick one for the more well-traveled denizens of the board... Do I need to get a passport to travel from the US to Canada these days?

Yes. You either need a passport, passport card or one of those special driver's license dealies (if available).

Edit: And especially so if by air. Two if by sea....

 

[Maestro]

It's not so much needing one to get "in" to Canada as it is one to get "out."

 

[thestrangequark]

Just a quick one for the more well-traveled denizens of the board... Do I need to get a passport to travel from the US to Canada these days?

Yes. You either need a passport, passport card or one of those special driver's license dealies (if available).

Edit: And especially so if by air. Two if by sea....

Actually, you don't need one if you go via the Victoria Clipper!

 

[Canadave]

It's not so much needing one to get "in" to Canada as it is one to get "out."

We do have very aggressive immigration policies...

 

[bigdaddy]

I would never ever get a license that has a chip in it.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ You may not have a choice.

 

[Arrqh]

Sure you do, it's called a "microwave"

 

[bigdaddy]

^ You may not have a choice.

I will cut the damn thing out of my ID, or better yet, not ever have it with me.

There is a reason why the tea party grew so quickly. Sure hidden racism helped, there is a line before people go "FUCK YOU!" back to the government.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

^ You may not have a choice.

I will cut the damn thing out of my ID, or better yet, not ever have it with me.

Good luck the next time you get pulled over.

 

[RoJoHen]

^ You may not have a choice.

or better yet, not ever have it with me.

I hope you never have to drive anywhere.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Besides, it's not like the government can use those things to track you. There's not anywhere even close to the infrastructure to do that.

 

[Arrqh]

That's not really the issue, it's more one of privacy and identity theft. The problem is even worse when traveling... you may trust your own government to keep your personal data secure, but do you trust all governments?

Jokes about microwaves aside, if you damage the chip itself so it doesn't work without visually harming the ID then it's still valid. Fortunately there are solutions to prevent unauthorized access if you don't feel like smacking your new passport with a hammer.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

It's not so much needing one to get "in" to Canada as it is one to get "out."

Yes you'll need one to get back in...

Just a quick one for the more well-traveled denizens of the board... Do I need to get a passport to travel from the US to Canada these days?

Yes. You either need a passport, passport card or one of those special driver's license dealies (if available).

Edit: And especially so if by air. Two if by sea....

Actually, you don't need one if you go via the Victoria Clipper!

Never taken the clipper but someone wasn't doing their job if you got through.???
last time I drove through I had to have one either trough Blaine or taking the Black Ball,.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

That's not really the issue, it's more one of privacy and identity theft.

Somebody would have to be fairly close to you to read this thing, AFAIK.

 

[Arrqh]

That's not really the issue, it's more one of privacy and identity theft.

Somebody would have to be fairly close to you to read this thing, AFAIK.

Q: What does your research show about Passport Cards and EDLs?
A: The RFID devices in these identity documents are known as EPC (Electronic Product Code) tags. They are essentially wireless barcodes. That such tags have limited security features and are subject to clandestine scanning and emulation in a clone device is already widely known in the technical community.
Our research confirms the vulnerability of Passport Cards and EDLs to copying attacks of their electronic RFID components. We have shown, in fact, that an anti-counterfeiting measure that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security appears to have contemplated is not present in its initial designs is not present in the Passport Card. Without this countermeasure, it is a technically straightforward matter to copy the data from a Passport Card’s RFID tag into another, off-the-shelf tag. An attacker does not have to resort to building an emulating device in order to create a radio-similar clone. (While we think it unlikely, it is possible that DHS has deployed other anti-cloning countermeasures in the field.) Our research additionally shows that the RFID tags in Passport Cards are subject to scanning at a long range---exceeding 150 feet under certain circumstances. The protective sleeve provided with the Passport Card effectively prevents such scanning.

Source.

So, 150ft if not shielded.

It's not that RFID tags in passports and drivers licenses are universally bad... just that the security features present need to be up to the challenge, and there's a lot of worrying data on the current implementations that indicate that this isn't the case. And again, this isn't about the big evil government spying on people or any such nonsense, it's about privacy (from other people) and protection from identity theft.