[jinz]

I have only done some small trips throught canada and i was wondering is it hard to get across the border to the u.s. withought being hassled i have a passport

[spareassannie]

Well, as far as I understand, it shouldn't be a problem to cross the U.S. border from Canada as long as you match the following:
1. Have a valid passport and birth certificate and driver's licence. the more i.d., the better.
2. Have enough U.S. money to support yourself for as long as you are there. (i'm not sure how much that is...it used to be if you had 6 american dollars on you, that was enough, but i'm not sure of amounts now...)
3. You must not have a criminal record. They have a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs.
4. Have a plan i.e. where are you going in the U.S. what you are doing, how long you will be there. Preferably have a plane or bus ticket that proves you will be leaving the U.S. in the time you say you will.

I think you can change things for yourself once you get across the border, some of this I am saying just to be on the safe side. They are getting really sticky about letting Canadians cross the border, and I was ceremoniously rejected a few weeks ago, although, i had no valid i.d.

I have a friend of Chilean decendance, and she says she gets searched everytime she has a stop over in the States on the way to or from South America. She has been living in Canada for over 30 years. Last time she was so angry at them for making her tear her bags apart, she just freaked out on them and said "now i am late for my flight, what makes you think i want to stay in this country!?" she told me they told her they were just doing their jobs....

If you do go into the states, let me know how it goes, and what sorta stuff they ask you at the border. I have talked to lots of canadians who have had no trouble, some trouble and a few that have been rejected as well.
Good luck!

[Icer321]

In february I crossed the border in alberta at Sweet Grass/Couts...
They were at "yellow alert" at the time...
It was me and 3 friends in a 94 hyundai elantra...
we had to go inside the building and fill out a form which asked for name, address, etc.. occupation, address of job, all that sort of stuff.. they also asked how much money we had available to support ourselves..
she asked us if we had any proof that we had that cash available (i think we put like $500 each or something).. we were like, "what, like bank statements?" and she was like, "Ya, that would do." and we were like, "no, sorry..."
oh ya, she kept asking us if we had drugs and liquor and that sort of thing...

and also she asked where we were headed, we told her phoenix, and she asked "how on earth do you know anyone in phoenix?" and my one friend told her jokingly that "oh you know, we get around" at which point she repeated the exact same words but this time much more sternly. so we said we knew people there from high school that we played rugby with (which we did.)

and then we sat there for maybe 15 mins and then she let us cross
so it wasnt too intense, they didnt look in the car or anythin.

[Raus]

The stuff Annie said about ID is absolutely right.. Otherwise, just have a good story and stick to it, be concise, and don't elaborate.. In other words answer questions with as simple an answer as you can give. Whether totally true or not, just know what you are going to say, and say it simply.. That's about all the advice I can give.. And yes, they can treat you pretty badly, but as long as you have ID, I doubt they will turn you away.. You'll just get hassled some...

[paolo]

Once when I crossed the border at Highgate Springs VT/ Philipsburg QC, it was the middle of the night and it was this old granny woman who was working at customs and when should found out I was a musician and she started telling me all about her granchildren how the started piano lessons and then she went on about how she loves to go to the symphony and her friend who plays clarinet and I was just nodding and say "uh huh" the whole time thinking, hmm is she gonna give me a hard time and strip search me or something after all this? It was my funniest border crossing experience.
-pauly

[hikecrazy]

I found an article called "Crossing the Line" about the problem of crossing the border with a drug-related conviction which might be of interest to any of you planning to cross in the future.

I have to agree with this piece of sage advice: "Avoid airplanes, trains and ferries where your name ends up on passenger lists and never travel by bus, because customs officers treat bus passengers like dirt." - I have experience of the hassles and questioning that bus passengers are put through when crossing certain borders and it's [b:5fd9a80648]not [/b:5fd9a80648]pleasant.

Read the article here.

[velo]

I came here to Canada last week by bus, and I can confirm the above, they treat you like shit. I got hassled for lack of money, criminal record (protest activity), no return ticket, and not knowing anyone here in Montreal.

They ultimately let me through, but as was stated above, would have been much easier without going by bus. My story wasn't the problem, it was primarily the lack of return ticket and not knowing anybody that got them all worried.

[crust_punk]

I tried to cross the border yesterday. They asked how i was going to get where i was going (south carolina to see my mom) i said i was going to hitchike. They didnt let me across because

Im a minor,i had no means of transportation,no money and yada yada. SO im unfourtinately still stuck in canada.

I do have warrents but they never said i wasent allowed to enter their country with them so i think if i had transportation they would have let me. I had a hardertime getting back through canada customs when they sent me back because of my warrents though.

[Guest]

Im 15 and i have a photo student card, and a care card and stuff liek that but i dont have a birth certificate can i still get across??

[Tumbleweed3636]

Was it always this hard to get to the U.S. from Canada before 9/11?