Passport for US to Canada?

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. Went there last summer.

 

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

 

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:

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.

 

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.

 

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

 

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

 

We do have very aggressive immigration policies...

 

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

 

^ You may not have a choice.

 

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

 

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.

 

Good luck the next time you get pulled over.

 

I hope you never have to drive anywhere.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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

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,.

 

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

 

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.