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Cool or Lame: Get Your Passport for Canada?
It might be a good time to get yourself a passport, if you are one of those tens of millions of Americans who doesn't already have one. Sure, you may not be planning a trip anytime soon to Europe or another continent, but beginning on December 31, the United States, which now requires only a drivers license to visit the Caribbean, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico, will be requiring passports for travel to these places. Kinda sucks, huh? I mean, how many times have you bolted for the border on a whim without bringing along your little blue book? The new rules are part of the 20054 anti-terrorism bill and will apply only to air and sea travel (for now, but stay tuned). The headache will get worse at the end of next year when the Department of Homeland Security will demand you show your passport at every border crossing. Yuck.Filed under: Learning, Business, Festivals and Events, North America, United States, Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Trav Jun 19th 2006 3:59AM
To obtain a passport for the first time, you need to go in person to one of 7,000 passport acceptance facilities located throughout the United States with two photographs of yourself, proof of U.S. citizenship, and a valid form of photo identification such as a driver’s license.
loikll Jun 19th 2006 3:43PM
I crossed over into Canada for the 1st time a few months ago -- and I even had my passport b/c I didn't know what was required. And man, they gave me the third degree, with all this frowning at the computer screen, then "are you SURE you've never been to Canada?" crap. They called me out for an inspection in the border patrol office.
Weird, man, and I'm just a regular clean-cut white guy. They probably waved a dozen Islamic terrorists through while they were dicking with me.
jane b. Jun 19th 2006 7:44PM
After a week at a "great books" college workshop and another weekend writing workshop, I spontaneously decided to visit Campobello Island to see the Roosevelt summer home. Oy vey, big mistake!
First, let me describe myself. I wear industrial strength bifocals, have a gimpy knee, have inhaled a few too many Whoppers and will retire (if not expire!) next year. I drive a Camry, for God's sake. Secondly, my car was packed with a bunch of unusual things needed for dorm room living- pillows, towels, a floor fan, iron, etc. - in addition to luggage, maps, books, notebooks, purchases, remnants of breakfast and lunch, etc. All of this had to be emptied from the car and gone through, as well as my purse, tote bag (I don't think terrorists use tote bags; back packs are de rigeur), glove compartment, beverage holder and so on. It took about 2 hours as my carload of stuff was slowly spread out on a big sorting table. This to enter an island where trees must outnumber people 10:1.
Maybe there should be a place for profiling.
Anyway, the irony is that US immigration just flagged me through on my return to the states. I don't even think they looked at my ID.
Emma from Amsterdam Jun 23rd 2006 6:08PM
Funny how most Americans don't seem to realize how hard it is to visit THEIR country.
We waited for nearly THREE hours at JFK to get in, in a huge hall with over 1,200 people (five planes) standing in one meandering line bordered by gates. No seats or anything, so seniors and small children all had to stand in this line with luggage and all. And for what?
To have some very-proud-to-be-an-immigration-officer take my picture and pointing at some device that copied my FINGERPRINTS. He then started the X-exam about the Turkish visum in my passport (hello! Turkey is about to become a EU member and Istanbul is *the* place for an spring holiday! how over-obsessed with islam stuff can you be?).
The U.S. treats their visitors as if they're criminals, in stead of people who are interested in their country and therefore visiting it.
Had a great week in Manhattan though and will be back for more! (And not even one passport check when I was leaving through JFK: very glad to get rid of their "guests" I guess LOL)
Catherine Jul 26th 2006 10:30AM
To have or not to have is the question. I have found Canadians to give you the A-Z questionaire even without a pastport so my question is will the treatment a gestures change with a pastport as one exchange a smile that says I am looking forward to visiting your countries and in the end your smile changes to a gesture of doubt and concern about Canada. I do like the country but I just wonder
Bryan Oct 24th 2006 9:39PM
You think its hard coming to Canada? geez. 5 hour border wait times, "random searches" where they actually took the back and front seats out of my car, yelled at me and my fiancee for not having our birth certificates with us, just for a 2 day vacation to Portland Maine. The American Border Patrol treated us like crap and made us sit in the office for over an hour while waiting for them to "clear our vehicle". This was my first and ONLY venture to the United States. And then, once we get to Portland, everybody is rude and acted like we didnt have a reservation when I know we did for the hotel. The hotel and the border patrol ruined our vacation. We left after only one night in the US. It's a terrible place and I feel sorry for people who live there. And as for loikll's comment about letting Islamic terrorists through while they were dicking around with you, screw you.
Erik Olsen Aug 13th 2006 2:19PM
I totally understand your point, but I do have to say it's been a pain lately now that we need passports to get to Canada. But yes, it is absurdly hard to visit the US for many tourists. Ridiculous, really.