Only 1 question was askd to my family going into the United States

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I am posting this from the Hampton Inn & Suites in Valdosta, Georgia as tomorrow my family & I are arriving in Clearwater Beach & then it's off to WDW on August 8th. Anyway on Saturday morning we got to the Ambassador Bridge for 6:30 AM, after waiting 5 minutes it was our turn for questioning at United States Customs. We get up there, my Dad hands the border guard are Passports & says where are you going? My Dad says Clearwater Beach & Disney World. He then hands them back & says have a nice trip. We could not believe that was all he asked. He did not say Citizenship, how long are you going for, are all of you family, you know the usuall stuff. Well we did not complain about the lack of questioning & why would we lol.

 

[Scratch42]

That's the Beauty of Having Passports!

Have A Great Time!

j

 

[briarberry]

Thanks for the information. We cross at Ambassador on Aug. 5 and I hope it is as easy for us. My passport came but there was a hold up on my DD9 so I hope they don't ask too many questions. Have a great time, we'll be right behind you from Aug. 5-21!

 

[F4disneyfan]

Yep as Janet said that is the great thing about passports especially if you have them eady and hand them over. They look at them and ask your destination not much else that they will ask after looking at the passports problem with other docs that will get you questioned is the lack of photo especially for kids that is why all of our kids have them it was a very small price to pay for the piece of mind you get when crossing the border or traveling in general.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

Well it's still weird because in previous years with our Passports going into the United States at the Ambassador Bridge, we were still asked questions & not just where we are going.

 

[RoyalCanadian]

Not really weird at all. There have been plenty of times that I have either crossed the border or gone through Customs/INS at YYZ and haven't been asked how long I would be staying. As others have noted, it is the beauty of the passport. Citizenship is automatically identified. Names are automatically identified.

 

[CR Resort Fan 4 Life]

I have a feeling comming back into Canada will take a bit longer because they need to know how much cash they we are taking back, how long we have been gone for & etc. We won't be taking back any Alcohol or Tobaco, so that should save us some time because with that stuff who knows.

 

[zookeeper]

The passport helps, but honestly, it really all depends on which customs officer you happen to get. I've had times where they didn't even ask to see I.D. they just took one look at the car and waved us through. Other times, I've been asked a zillion questions. The other day, the man wanted to know exactly what store I would be shopping at. A lot of it is the luck of the draw.

 

[MikeJ]

When we crossed back into Windsor a couple of weeks ago, we were asked, "Citizenship?", "How long were you away?", Total value of goods?", and "Any tobacco or alcohol?" I'm not even sure our van came to a complete stop at the booth. Total time was less than 30 seconds.

And yes, we did have passports...

- Mike

 

[hockey mom]

Not to burst the passport bubble, but on one trip into the US at the Peace Bridge (post 9/11) the customs official never took his eyes from his computer screen while asking us "Are you bringing anything into the country?' We replied "No." "Have a nice trip." No passports, just regular I.D.s. DS even asked after we had passed through "Isn't he supposed to ask us some questions?"

 

[SnowWhite]

Same here, I have never had a passport and have crossed into the USA over 100 times. Never once has it been difficult. The funniest time was Mar break 2005 when the US customs agent didn't even look at our ID or ask the kids any questions. She just said "citizenship?" I said "Canadian" and she said "Have a good day". I stupidly even asked her if she wanted to see ID, she said "No, you are ok with me". Getting back into Canada has been tough for us at times. I swear sometimes I feel like Canada doesn't want me back.

Rob (Snowwhite's DH)

 

[damo]

Sounds typical to me too. We've gone across for hockey tournaments and they always ask funny questions or make a joke. Border crossing tends to be quite pleasant.