New Passport Law ??

Ok, so I have a cat that is going to Canada. Yay for Gabriel

I dont like to ship cargo if I dont have to.

and his new home is only 7 hours away for me to drive to. So I think I can make the drive. Vs plane and i am pretty sure the new passport act is more leinent on the land crossing.

So can anyone help me with that do i need a passport to go by car? The passport website was a little confusing.

Thanks!

I don't think they have set the date for crossing the border by land so you should be able to use a driver's license for that.

I have a friend who lives in North Tonawanda, NY and crosses into Canda via Niagra Falls and he said on Jan. 1, 2008 you have to have a passport to travel via car. He said now you need a driver's license and a birth certificate with a raised seal (the original).

And if you have children going they need their original birth certificate, too.

good deal. I know i should bring along proof of citizenship too birth cert SS card something. on another forum i have about 8 diffrent answers lol..confusing stuff.

thanks. we will be goign before January.

uh oh the orginal err..... well maybe my mom has that lol

Originally Posted by Pami

I have a friend who lives in North Tonawanda, NY and crosses into Canda via Niagra Falls and he said on Jan. 1, 2008 you have to have a passport to travel via car. He said now you need a driver's license and a birth certificate with a raised seal (the original).

And if you have children going they need their original birth certificate, too.

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If you're going now, you're still OK without a passport. If you're applying for a passport for the first time, that can take up to 2 months. So if you know you need it in the future, I'd get one soon!

I just read on the dhs site that you need your driver's license and original birth certificate.

Originally Posted by lunasmom

If you're going now, you're still OK without a passport. If you're applying for a passport for the first time, that can take up to 2 months. So if you know you need it in the future, I'd get one soon!

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It's not taking so long to get passports now that peak travel season is over. I applied for my passport last month and had it in less than two weeks. The woman who took my application said it would take 2-4 weeks so I may have been extraordinarily lucky.

The wait times are longer if you don't have a passport of they want to verify them

Another quick point to remember is, even if you are only going for a day, your passport must be valid for 6 months from the date of entry (a typical visitor visa length) so check the dates in those passports too!

Currently you do not need a passport if crossing by land but do if flying.

I had never had a passport in my life until this year (60 yrs. old) when I was taking a golf trip to the US. I picked up the forms at our post office, went to Shopper's Drug Mart and had the photo done, dropped in to my optometrist for him to sign and verify the picture, went to the Passport office first thing next morning when they opened and 2 weeks later I had a passport in my hands. I found that going directly to the Passport office was faster than mailing everything in according to friends that mailed their application. I also didn't want to put my original birth certificate in the mail in case it got lost.