Heard a rumor...

[RoyalCanadian]

It's a nice thought, pumpkinboy, to think that money will buy your way across the border -- or at least buy your customers their way across the border. However, the Bush administration has proven this not to be true. There are companies much larger than Disney who have to go through many more hoops to get their products into the USA. Currently, all ships are required to give 96 hours notice of cargoes in advance of docking at a US port. No notice -- no docking. The truck drivers behind the steering wheel of those rigs you see crossing the border have had to declare their manifests before they arrive at the border -- no declaration, no crossing. This is for companies such as General Motors, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, etc., etc.

 

[Amberle3]

About guarantors - I have heard of Dr's charging a fee for signing the passport applications... they are absolutely not allowed to do this. If your doctor does impose a fee, politely inform them that they must be unaware of that they're not allowed to do this, and the fee must be a mistake. Afterall, you wouldn't want to have to report them for charging a fee (the fines are pretty hefty I understand).

for my first passport, I worked at a university and had one of the profs there sign as guarantor. This last one I had the doctor sign.

And don't think of the expense of the passport just in terms of one or two possible trips across the line. Think of it in terms of potential! What if, in 2 or 3 years, a remarkable deal comes up on an all-inclusive resort in Cuba. About a year and a half ago there was an unbelievable deal on a 5* resort that was less than half price. Well you need a passport for Cuba. And for some cruise destinations too.

 

[pumpkinboy]

Originally posted by RoyalCanadian
It's a nice thought, pumpkinboy, to think that money will buy your way across the border -- or at least buy your customers their way across the border. However, the Bush administration has proven this not to be true. There are companies much larger than Disney who have to go through many more hoops to get their products into the USA. Currently, all ships are required to give 96 hours notice of cargoes in advance of docking at a US port. No notice -- no docking. The truck drivers behind the steering wheel of those rigs you see crossing the border have had to declare their manifests before they arrive at the border -- no declaration, no crossing. This is for companies such as General Motors, Ford, Daimler-Chrysler, etc., etc.

You are absolutely right RoyalCanadian! I was talking more about the legislative process, with the current GOP controlled congress farming out the writing of bills to big donor groups who might have an interest in them (e.g, drug companies and extension of drug patent protection, and most appallingly credit card companies formulating new bankruptcy legislation - I'm a banker and even I was shocked by that one). In my earlier post I was mainly musing, and recognize that foreigners with bad intentions do need to be kept out of the USA (Canada too for that matter). Being a resident of a city with a container port (Boston in my case) I was quite happy to see the increased scrutiny of shipping containers. I really hope that we don't impose a passport requirement on our nearest and dearest neighbours.

 

[Amberle3]

You know, I've been giving this a lot of thought and I've come to the conclusion that in the long run it really would be better and easier if everyone needed a passport for entry.

In addition to being a travel agent I run bus tours to the US. You'd be surprised at how many people try and use very strange things as ID. I'm talking Club Z cards, Canadian Tire charge cards, etc. And then you have the problem of your birth certificate being in one name, and your driver's license possibly in another name (if you're married).

And for those of us in Manitoba, apparently our license's are different than most of the rest of... well the planet if believe what some people say. The 2-part paper folder-style thing is apparently not the norm. I forget why I had to show ID and where, it was a southern state though I think, but I had to explain to them that yes this was a REAL driver's license and no it wasn't a temporary license.

A passport is so much easier. I take it with me even when travelling just within Canada.

 

[cdnmickeylover]

Originally posted by dsneygirl
Actually that's not true. A birth certificate issued 1977 or later accompanied by photo ID is proof.
Other examples
~certificate of registration of birth abroad
~citizenship card

when accompanied by photo ID.

From my Canadian Immigration training

I did say "I" when I stated that a Canadian passport was the only document that proved that I am Canadian. I was born prior to 1977 and was born here in Canada. Hence I don't have a citizenship card or a certificate of registration of birth abroad. A passport is also one document rather than two. Even if you have a birth certificate from Canada after 1977 you could still be a citizen of another country and not all countries allow you to be a dual citizen. A driver's license proves, possibly, your residence which isn't the same as your citizenship. A passport is still the way to go.

 

[maryliz]

And just to add to CdnMickeyLover's comments, I would just like to point out that HER identification clearly shows that she is waaaayyyy older than I am (by 10 days that is!)

Mary-Liz

 

[TimNDansMom]

My experience with having my doctor sign the boys' and my passport applications and accompanying passport photos, was to fill out the paperwork with our information and simply drop them off at his office. I got a call the next day that they were ready to be picked up. No appointment was needed.

Since DH goes to a different doctor, he had an professional engineer at work guarantee his.

 

[maryliz]

We have a family friend who is a postmaster in a small town. I didn't know she could sign them until I looked at the applications. I'm glad her promotion can also benefit me! Our long-time minister retired last year.

When I printed them on-line, my printer at work double-sided everything, and the first page is actually on the back of one of the information sheets. Does anyone know if this matters?

Thanks,

Mary-Liz

 

[ChisJo]

When I printed them on-line, my printer at work double-sided everything, and the first page is actually on the back of one of the information sheets. Does anyone know if this matters?

I do not think that this should matter because the passport appolication itself is double sided as well. As long as all the pages are there and filled out accurately, I do not think it matters.

jo

 

[dsneygirl]

Originally posted by cdnmickeylover
I did say "I" when I stated that a Canadian passport was the only document that proved that I am Canadian.

I missed that. I just wanted to let people know that there are other options out there depending on their circumstances. So people don't panic.

Some countries may have you surrender your Canadian citizenship but Canada does not. So even if you become a citizen of another country Canada will recognize you as one of theirs. The exception would be someone like Conrad Black who voluntarily surrendered his.

 

[GrannyEv]

I was advised to get a passport. I just got back in May from
Disney, Took my DD and DGD and we all had them. It made it
so much easier getting into the US. The family behind us had all sorts of headaches and had a hard time. I'm not saying they won't let you in, but I would rather make sure I get to Disney than get to the airport or border crossing and be denied entry.

 

[Disneyof3]

I just returned this past weekend from the US. I was there with my mom and my girlfriend and her mom. Only my GF had a passport. We had no problems at the border. We crossed at the Lewiston bridge going and the Rainbow back. My mom lost her birth certificate but has the original BIG certificate and she showed it with her driver's license. We were given no problems what so ever. When we went in January to WDW the same thing, DH,me,2 1/2,4,7 all no passports only birth certificates and drivers license, the kids I had there health cards. They were more concerned that the kids were all ours.


Waiting for February 2005

 

[grover]

My concern after reading this thread is not that they won't let us cross with our birth cert/drivers liscence ect...but that someone said the USA can at any time decide that everyone needs passports and they won't give any lead on time on this. So for example if they decide on Oct 5th that no one enters the usa without a passport than we are just out of luck-no way to get a passport before we leave on Oct 8th and then no wedding for us and all our guests and us have wasted thousands of dollars.
So that is why I have decided to get one.
Now does any of the experts here know anything about people with TREATY STATUS (first nations) crossing the boarder...I have heard there may be/are exceptions...
Grover in Winnipeg

on a positive note my dr and fh dr will sign for our passports..

 

[abbyndrewmom]

Just thought I would add my 2 cents

When the USA changed their VISA waiver program last year they gave lots of notice to the people that it would affect. They also implemented the program in phases.

Also remember this is an election year, Floridia is a huge battleground state. Tourism is a huge part of the Floridia economy and Canadians are an important sector of that economy. If the US were to implement a new policy in October that would affect alot of the snowbirds who spend their winters & money in Floridia. I don't think Bush would want to do anything that might affect the local economy of Floridia. There are communities in Floridia that are pretty dependent on Canadian Snowbirds.

Anyway this isn't to say it couldn't happen but I think it would be more likely that an announcement would be made in October that this policy would be implemented at a future date.

Again I think it is a good idea to have a passport any time you travel outside of Canada. We are going to Las VEgas is a couple of weeks and it will be my first trip outside of Canada in 17 years when I have not carried a passport. Mine expired in June and when I went to renew I could not find my Birth Certificate. I just found my BC yesterday but I don't want to risk not having it back in time to go so I will wait till we get back to renew my passport. Even though I do carry my passport I always offer my BC and Driver Licence when crossing the US border and have never had a problem.

It will be interesting to see what is going to happen.

Allison

 

[GrannyEv]

My daughter got her wallet stolen and lost all the birth certificates. She phoned the government and told them that she was going to Florida and lost her passports. They told her that if she could prove that she was going(in our case I supplied a letter from the travel agency to prove we were going). She got replacement birth certificates very quickly and was then able to apply for the passport.

399 days and counting

 

[filet1970]

Just to add something here...our plane tickets do mention that you need a passport to go to the US so I'm sure not taking any chances.
We're in the process of applying for passports (printed the forms at least!) and now I've printed the forms to get a birth certificate as my DM doesn't have one that fits the requirement and I just can't find mine!!

 

[GrannyEv]

Well I think that with all the stuff going on in the world,
is you are travelling out of Canada then you should really
have a passport. I sure wouldn't want to take a chance
after planning a trip like this and not being able to get
into the U. S. (and Disney World.)
I think I would burst into tears!!

 

[BitsnBearsMom]

We just got ours..... didn't want to take any chances.

but the good news.... we went to the kitchener office on a Monday 2 weeks ago, got our birth certificates back in the mail on Thursday and recieved the passports on the same Friday..... fast service!!

 

[NicoleMD]

My adive is to give yourself lots of time for the gov't to process you passport. Last year my best friend and I went to Cabo San Lucas for a week. We were told we didn't need passports to get into Mexico but didn't want to take any chances. Well, I received mine no problem...... dropped that paperwork off at the passport office in Halifax on June 18th and had my passport in my hand by the end of the month. For my friend however, it was a nightmare.

She couriered off her application and waited and waited and waited and finally they told her they couldn't approve her pictures (there was a slight shadow behind her ear. So she had them done again and couriered them off. becasue they gov't denied the application the first time it was taken out of the processing file (they said just until they got the new pics). Well, when they got the new pics no-body put the application back in the processing pile. So she waited and waited and waited then they told her the application was lost.

She told them she was just send aother one in and was told that if she did she would have two passport applications in the system and could be arrested at the boarder!!!! By this time she was in a panic as our trip was only a couple of weeks away. They agreed to do a search for it. She told them she wouyld even drive the 5 hours to Halifax to pick it up if that would make things easier.

After all this confussion, she finally received her passport........ 2 days before we left for Mexico.

The mmorale of this story is to give yourself plently of time for your passport application to be processed. I know this is an extreme case, but SNAFU's can happen to anyone!!!!!

Nicole

 

[grover]

Our passports took one week...ds's took an extra two days as we didn't have his long form birth cert and had to apply for it-but we got it the same day and just dropped it off-they had his application in pending-but when I took in his birth cert I physically saw her take it out of pending-lucky for me!
Grover in Winnipeg