• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

Travel into Canada and back

B

brysona

Guest
The rally update in the BMW Owner's News, April 2006, page 94, may have had an error on only needing a picture ID. That may be true if you were born in the US but if you're a naturalized citizen you should bring proof of citizenship, for example a US passport. A problem can occur when returning to the US if you were born overseas or in Canada. My wife and I along with another couple went to Canada on the spur of the moment; we had a great time. However we got a lecture at the border crossing since my wife was born overseas and my friend's wife was born in Canada. It became apparent very fast that the border guard had the authority to hold our wives at the boarder until we were able to obtain their citizenship information. Fortunately we live in New Hampshire so it would've only been about an eight hour round trip for us! Please note that the guard was not giving us a hard time but just explaining the facts - recommend anyone planning to travel into Canada bring proof of citizenship or at least check the Government travel web site to get the latest information.
 
That's good info. I will be traveling through Canada on my way to the Burlington rally. I do anything to avoid Chicago!

Do you have the link for the Canadian government web site to which you referred?
 
Id?

I've passed both ways recently with "no" ID request...Just a few questions. I'm sure this is just a happenstance(word?). I look sooooo official, I guess! Shave, brush your teeth, wear nice riding suit and of course don't look like you've been riding for days without a shower....British Columbia crossings.. I understand Quebec is a funny place anyway!!! Maybe the Frenchy's have issues? Our guys, too...I'll be coming across Canada through Quebec, ooooops!
 
I just got back from a quick trip to Mexico. It was amazing at how easy it was compared to Canada, not even a picture ID!!!

Having said that I still brought my passport cause it could not hurt to have.
 
Brad if you had your helmet on, leaving Mexico would not be a problem...for the Mexicans. :stick
 
Crossing the border should be a breeze and sometimes it still is.

I thought OP's words were about a hassle from US Customs returning from Canada???

I crossed to the US recently at a very small crossing in Manitoba.No one was actually manning the post.I stopped for about 10 minutes,received no attention,then moved around the building(turns out I had crossed the border) and stopped again.The US guy came barrelling out at that, almost drawing his weapon.I calmed him down and finished crossing smoothly.

Passports and or birth certificates are helpful,and ,if not presently required,inevitably,soon will be.They don't cost that much and they are usually good for at least 5 years.

Call your congressman if you want the former longest undefended border(Canada/US in case you didn't know) to remain so.When I cross at a bigger crossing like the Peace Arch(which has this really moving arch and an inscription that reads "Children of a Common Mother",and it takes 2 hours of idling my V8 engine ,in gear,on the brake,while US customs grills everyone about fruit,thus causing the global warming that is killing the planet ,I go,"Hey what about racial profiling?There are 10 people in this 2 mile long line up that remotely look like they might be Arabs!!Please racially profile and pass the obviously friendly through!"

"Pass friend" should be the second words out of a border crossing dude's mouth,right after hello.

:usa Where is that darn Canadian flag smiley?Hiding in Toronto???



I would think the US has a bigger problem with its border with Mexico than with Canada(5000 illegals per day????),but that's just me.
 
cross border issues

The new Canadian government is looking at issuing special cards for Canadians to use for entering the U.S. I am hoping that they implement this soon, so that I can leave my valuable passport at home when I tour south of the 49th.

Rinty
 
we have just as much prob with canadians, you'd be surprised how many try to move down here illegally, and if you don't wanna deal with crossing the border, then don't do it, instead of complaining about having to prove your citizenship, or trying to bring in restricted products.
 
I cross back and forth across the border several times a year and have been for many years. Never had a real problem and don't usually get asked for ID. Things changed a few years ago and the border crossings seem a little more involved now, still not a problem but they seem to do a little more checking these days - perhaps that's not a bad thing.

I now show my passport which helps things along. (I paid for it, I want to use it for something.) Sometimes they don't seem to care to see it.
 
tuber1 said:
we have just as much prob with canadians, you'd be surprised how many try to move down here illegally, and if you don't wanna deal with crossing the border, then don't do it, instead of complaining about having to prove your citizenship, or trying to bring in restricted products.

Not to mention,the number of Americans trying to sneak into Canada to enjoy our great universal health care,and escape the "4 more years" syndrome...and I wonder what we have in Canada that they don't have over there in America,that Canadians are known for sneaking across the border?
:)
 
canflag.gif

i google image searched "canadian flag smilie"
this one is better, i think...
CanadaFlagGirl01.jpg
 
Travel back into the US

Hope I didn't raise a ruckus with my original posting. :dance Really the only point I was trying to make was that we had the problem coming back into the states from Canada. We've never had a problem getting into Canada (it was so easy we didn't think about it until we had a problem coming back!). My opinion is better safe than sorry and to carry proof of citizenship anytime you might want to cross the border. Believe me, a military ID doesn't necessarily help since I showed mine. :dunno

Just wanted to make sure we all get to have a great time!
 
This may be just me, but I will never find myself in any foreign country, whether it be Canada or Khazakstan, without my passport. I think it would be foolish to leave my country without it.

:usa
 
Children of a Common Mother...

I live in the north Idaho Panhandle and generally ride in Canada every summer---mostly B.C. and Alberta---and land-locked western Canadians and we in the non-beachfront American Northwest have more in common than we have to argue about. Both of us generally ridicule our respective national legislatures and enjoy good beer brewed on both sides of the border. Oh, and the western Canuks despise Quebecqois and wish they would either secede or shut up.
 
travel to Canada

....western Canucks despise Quebecois....dkaag

It's hard to generalise, but I think that if you did a poll right now, you would find very little dislike of Quebecois by westerners. And in my province, many Albertans can really relate to them in sharing their feeling of alienation from confederation. While many Canadians are no doubt irked by Quebec's continual requests for more transfer payments from the feds, the fact is that most of the other provinces are doing the same thing. Most Canadians, including westerners, would not want Quebec to secede. However, there is a growing separatist party in Alberta whose members would no doubt like to see it happen, so that Alberta would have an opportunity to follow suit.

I agree with you that Canadian westerners probably feel they have more in common with northwestern Americans, than with their eastern countrymen.

Anyone who has been to Quebec will tell that their people are delightful.

Rinty
 
Last edited:
Bring your passport. It doesn't take up much space, and it will save you a lot of time coming back into the US. I did a quick Canada jaunt last year during the MOV rally, and the guy at the border crossing told me that the passport really is the preferred thing these days.
 
Back
Top