|
John Cletheroe's
USA and Canada Holiday Hints |
While this information has been checked and is thought to be fully accurate, it is entirely unofficial, provided for general guidance purposes only, and may become out of date. I would strongly suggest that due to its importance you check it independently yourself with an official source, especially if any special circumstances apply in your case.
My thanks to "David" who pointed out that British visitors to Canada and the USA do NOT require their passports to be valid for six months after their return date.
British citizens must have a valid ten year British passport. A Visitor's passport is not accepted. According to the web site of the US Embassy in London, England (verified Jun-04), if a visitor's passport is not valid for at least six months beyond their date of departure from the United States, this does NOT affect eligibility to travel. The United States has an agreement with the United Kingdom automatically extending the validity of a passport for six months past the passport’s expiration date. Therefore, the passport needs to remain valid only for the duration of the stay in the United States. However, if a visitor's passport is not valid for 90 days, they will be admitted into the United States only until the date on which the passport expires.
Each child and each baby now requires a separate British passport unless they are already included in a valid adult's passport. From 26-Oct-04 all children travelling to the USA will need their own separate passport. According to a comment on the US Embassy in London's web site, five year full British passports issued to children under sixteen are acceptable for visiting the USA.
If you are applying for a new passport or a replacement passport then be sure to allow plenty of time for your application to be processed.
All visitors to the USA must have a return or onward ticket.
No vaccinations are required for British visitors to the USA.
Most airlines operate the Visa Waiver Programme, which means you don't need a visa. Be sure to check with your airline or tour operator regarding this vital point.
On the plane you must complete an immigration form for each person in the party, plus one customs form per family. Be sure to obtain the correct immigration form depending on whether you have a US visa or not. The I-94 immigration form for visa holders is white and must be filled in on the front only. The I-94W immigration form for non-visa holders (i.e. for the Visa Waiver Programme) is green and must be filled in on both the front and back.
According to a British newspaper article in Jan-03, in the future it may be necessary to fill in the immigration form prior to check-in and boarding will be refused unless the details are acceptable. In my opinion this is an ill-considered proposal: staff at most airports outside the USA will be incapable of performing even the most rudimentary checking of the forms and check-in times are likely to become even longer.
Check the format of the date of birth on these forms, since it can vary: day/month/year (UK format) or month/day/year (US format). Also check whether you should write above or below the lines - the immigration form is particularly confusing in this respect. In addition, check whether the form wants your country of residence stated as England, Britain, Great Britain or United Kingdom - some boxes on the form do not have enough spaces for the full name.
The US immigration form also requires the flight number and city of boarding, plus the number, date of issue and place of issue of your passports and (if relevant) your US visas. Surprisingly it doesn't require any information about when or how you intend to leave the USA, which I would have thought were the most important items.
Many airlines now run an in-flight video which explains how to fill in these forms.
On outward flights from your country to the USA you always have to clear US immigration and customs at the "port of entry", which is the first US airport you land at, regardless of your final destination. This is because your onward journey will be an internal flight with no immigration or customs involved. Indeed, your final destination's airport may only handle internal flights and therefore not have immigration and customs facilities.
The US immigration and customs procedures are rather intimidating but provided all your papers are in order and you have filled in the forms precisely as required then the process is not usually too bad. As usual with such matters there's a lot of luck in who you get and what mood they're in. In our experience great store is set by whether you have filled in the forms precisely as they should be - if so, you are usually processed very quickly. Each family group is examined as a group, and you must wait in the queue behind a yellow line before your group is called forward by the immigration officer. After passing through Immigration you then reclaim your baggage and go through Customs, which is usually a straightforward matter.
Because of the risk of disease it is not permitted to bring foodstuffs of any kind into the USA. Forbidden items include but are not restricted to fresh fruit, vegetables and meat.
On leaving the US by air there are no Immigration or Customs procedures. The airline check-in clerk will remove the card from your passport which the Immigration officer stapled in when you arrived, and that is all that is involved.
It is very difficult to obtain definite information regarding requirements for machine-readable passports and for passports which include biometric details. Information from unofficial sources tends to be vague, conflicting and out-of-date. The situation is still changing and deadlines are often not held to. The best sources of information are the US Embassy and your own country's passport office.
Fill in one form per person.
Fill in the front of the form (including the perforated departure record section at the bottom) and also the back of the form.
Read the instructions on the form before starting to fill it in.
The following information is required:
Fill in one form per person.
Fill in the front of the form only (including the perforated departure record section at the bottom).
Read the instructions on the form before starting to fill it in.
The following information is required:
Fill in one form per family, not per person.
Read the instructions on back of the form before starting to fill it in.
The following information is required:
Since I have never flown into Canada, I cannot give any information on the procedure involved.
There is an image of the Canadian Customs form on the Vancouver International Airport web site (external link verified Feb-01).
When driving into Canada from the USA, the US customs for people of all nationalities leaving the USA are usually virtually non-existent. At the Canadian customs for people entering Canada, be sure to point out that you are British. You will then normally be instructed to park your car and visit an office to get your passports stamped. This can take quite a little time since as with most such officials the world over there is little sense of urgency to the proceedings. At smaller border crossings on minor roads the formalities may be completed without you having to leave your car (and often in a more efficient and friendlier manner). If you haven't already obtained a GST/PST/HST refund leaflet then this can be obtained at the same time.
The majority of rental car companies allow you to hire a car in the USA, drive it into Canada and back into the USA. I have heard reports of problems doing this with Dollar, so it is well worth checking. Travellers using a friend or relative's car need to check the insurance aspects.
When returning to the USA from Canada, first visit the Duty Free shop on the Canadian side of the border to obtain your GST/PST/HST refund if it offers the facility.
The Canadian customs for people of all nationalities leaving Canada are usually virtually non-existent.
The US customs for people entering the USA are usually very efficient and checks for visitors from Britain re-entering the USA after a trip to Canada normally consist only of examining your passports without you having to get out of the car.
Visiting The USA From Canada
British visitors entering the USA by air from Canada are treated in the same way as those entering from any other country.
As at Jan-01, the "Visa Services" section of the web site of the US Embassy in London, England states that the Visa Waiver Programme also applies to visitors to the USA entering by land from Canada, subject to the same conditions as for visitors entering by air. The US Immigration authorities at the port of entry will issue an I-94W Visa Waiver immigration form to each person. There is a $6 fee per person, payable only in US Dollars. For air travellers, this fee is not seen as it is included in the price of the ticket.
The US Embassy web site makes no mention of the US Customs form. I would guess that when entering by land either the standard Customs form is used as when entering by air, or the customs inspection is conducted verbally without a form. Travellers are advised not to carry food of any type when entering the USA by air or land.
Travellers with rental cars also need to check that their car rental operator allows cars rented in Canada to be driven in the USA. Travellers using a friend or relative's car need to check the insurance aspects.
Roger Christie sent me this useful comment:
I visited Toronto in 1994. I crossed the border into the US on two occasions; once with Canadian friends in their RV, and once in a rented light aircraft. I was advised before I left the UK to obtain a US visa, which I did. There appears to be no specific requirement in the details on the US embassy's website, but I believe it saved me a lot of hassle with form-filling when crossing the border "under my own steam" rather than by scheduled transport.
So far I haven't found a clear statement regarding Canadian citizens visiting the USA. It would seem that having a Canadian passport is again by far the best option. A visa is not required.
In March 2004 Josh Crockett kindly sent me these extremely useful comments about the current situation:
I thought I might contribute my experience regarding the paperwork required for US or Canadian citizens crossing into each other's countries.
First off, it might be worth noting that in all major Canadian airports, almost all US-bound passengers actually clear US immigration/customs at the airport (these are referred to as "pre-clearance" facilities). US-bound flights depart from a wing of the airport that is sequestered past the border post, usually called the "trans-border" wing (as opposed to domestic and international). This aids greatly in making onward connections inside the USA, since flights from that trans-border wing are treated as domestic American flights upon arrival at their destination.
Secondly, some airlines have increased the documentation requirements for trans-border flights (at least those departing from the US) past what either government requires for entry. A birth certificate plus photo ID (such as a driver's license) has always been acceptable to the governments themselves, but US Airways (for one) now requires that the birth certificate carry a raised state seal. Some states and provinces do not print their certificates this way (I know of at least Virginia and Ontario); therefore I would very strongly recommend that any US or Canadian citizen planning to fly between the US and Canada get a passport. My girlfriend and I nearly had our anniversary ruined by US Airways because of this.
Most recently modified 30-Dec-05