Perminanent Resident...Visa to enter US and Bahamas ?

[palmickey2005]

I've searched the internet for information on Visas to enter the US but would appreciate any input from anyone that may know the answer:

We are Canadian Citizens but we'll be travelling with some family members that are not Canadian Citizens. They have Perminanent Residents cards and Portuguese Passports. Do they require a visa to enter the US ? We'll be on the Disney Wonder and so I don't know what they might need for the Bahamas also.

Someone told me that because they have European passports that they don't require a Visa to enter the US. Is this right ?

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Northstar]

Don't know about the Bahamas, but you're in luck... Portugal is on the list of visa waiver countries for the U.S. That means citizens of Portugal don't need to apply in advance for a visa.
Maybe just give a shout to a U.S. consulate in Canada, visa-handling division, to make sure.

 

[Claud26]

we flew out of buffalo in December 2005, both my husband and myself (at that time) were traveling with our Perminanent Residents cards and A NEW Portuguese Passports, that met all the US security requirements. We also had our two Kids with us who are both Canadian.
ANYWAY, at the buffalo boarder we had to get out of the car and go inside for Finger printing & they asked us Various Questions, in all it took about 1hr !! and I think because we had kids they were actually Civil to us. I know that in the Past they have given my sister a REALLY hard time, she has been close to tears!! (i'm not kidding) They actually don't believe she is Portuguese (maybe because of her dark skin color)
BUT anyway, it was not pleasent, especially with the kids. SO this year we are traveling as Canadian Citizens !! NO more hassel for us.

I would recomend that you ensure that the passports are NEW and meet all The US requirements, also factor in that you will need to get out of the car for Finger printing and questioning... AH we had to pay I think $12.?? for a Visa type papper that they attached to our Passports, WHICH you need to return once you cross the border over to Canada !! VERY IMPORTANT !! this indicates that you left the US... if you do not had the form back they might denied you entrance to the US next time you try to go.

You didn't say when you are going to the US, but I would recomend that your Family memebers apply for Canadian Citizenship, even if they don't get it in time you can always mention that they the US Guards. We were actually told that IF we would have told them that we had at least applied, then they would have let us go by without questions.

 

[palmickey2005]

we flew out of buffalo in December 2005, both my husband and myself (at that time) were traveling with our Perminanent Residents cards and A NEW Portuguese Passports, that met all the US security requirements. We also had our two Kids with us who are both Canadian.
ANYWAY, at the buffalo boarder we had to get out of the car and go inside for Finger printing & they asked us Various Questions, in all it took about 1hr !! and I think because we had kids they were actually Civil to us. I know that in the Past they have given my sister a REALLY hard time, she has been close to tears!! (i'm not kidding) They actually don't believe she is Portuguese (maybe because of her dark skin color)
BUT anyway, it was not pleasent, especially with the kids. SO this year we are traveling as Canadian Citizens !! NO more hassel for us.

I would recomend that you ensure that the passports are NEW and meet all The US requirements, also factor in that you will need to get out of the car for Finger printing and questioning... AH we had to pay I think $12.?? for a Visa type papper that they attached to our Passports, WHICH you need to return once you cross the border over to Canada !! VERY IMPORTANT !! this indicates that you left the US... if you do not had the form back they might denied you entrance to the US next time you try to go.

You didn't say when you are going to the US, but I would recomend that your Family memebers apply for Canadian Citizenship, even if they don't get it in time you can always mention that they the US Guards. We were actually told that IF we would have told them that we had at least applied, then they would have let us go by without questions.

Thank You both Northstar and Claud26 for your replies. I think they might be looking into getting Canadian Citizenship but probably not in time for our cruise date...Feb 2008.

Last summer at the US border my cousin needed to get out of the car and go inside...I'm not really sure about the fingerprint part though but I know they gave her a really hard time because her passport shows both her maiden and married name while her PR card only has her married name. I guess the real trouble makers have everything match correctly and so "they" have no problems crossing the border.

I guess with anything else the innocent pay for those that actually cause trouble.

I believe my cousins Portuguese passports are new but I will double check with them.

Thanks again for the advice. Nice to know there are Portuguese-Canadian Disers out there.

 

[Claud26]

palmickey2005,

one more thing ... as soon as we booked our trip for Dec 2007 back in January 07 we actually applied for our Canadian Citizenship in Feb 07 so we didn't have to go through the same thing again !! anyway it only took 3 months to become Canadians YEAH !! I know after 20 years of being in Canada it took a trip to Disney to makes us become Canadian ?!
It was super fast!! I think your cousin should put in their papper work just to avoid the hassel.

 

[palmickey2005]

palmickey2005,

one more thing ... as soon as we booked our trip for Dec 2007 back in January 07 we actually applied for our Canadian Citizenship in Feb 07 so we didn't have to go through the same thing again !! anyway it only took 3 months to become Canadians YEAH !! I know after 20 years of being in Canada it took a trip to Disney to makes us become Canadian ?!
It was super fast!! I think your cousin should put in their papper work just to avoid the hassel.

Wow only 3 months, that's pretty good. I'll let my cousin know...but I think it's her husband that's actually slowing them down from going for it. He said he didn't want to go through all the studying but if they could at least try.

I know what you mean when you said about your sister and the US Guards not believing she was portuguese. My brother in law lives in New Jersey and after 9/11 he has a hard time with that too because he's darker and no one believe he's portuguese. What a world we live in.

 

[Claud26]

Wow only 3 months, that's pretty good. I'll let my cousin know...but I think it's her husband that's actually slowing them down from going for it. He said he didn't want to go through all the studying but if they could at least try.

I know what you mean when you said about your sister and the US Guards not believing she was portuguese. My brother in law lives in New Jersey and after 9/11 he has a hard time with that too because he's darker and no one believe he's portuguese. What a world we live in.

Studing was really easy ... there are about 100 questions you need to study... but on the test there are only 20 question ... just straigh forward easy question that you would know anyway ... easy stuff like what color is the canadian Flag, what's the capital of Canada, what is the confederation and when etc... and then there are 3 questions regarding Elections Canada and your right to vote. Quite frankly the test is a joke !! I think it's more a formality then anything else ... my mother-in-law passed the test 10 yrs ago and she didn't even speak English let alone write?!!?? NOT sure how that can be.

The only thing that was stopping us from getting our Citizenship was the $200.00 dollars each they charge you !! But I after what we went throught with the US Guards I would rather Pay then have to do that again.
My sister is now also a Canadian Citizen and she never again had any issues crossing at buffalo!!