[pct-l] Fwd: Flying from Vancouver to So. Cal

[jgus at sunbow.org (Gustafson)]

>> From: "Marshall Karon" <m.karon@comcast.net>
>> Subject: Re: [pct-l] Flying from Vancouver to So. Cal
>> OK - how many people have their Birth Certificates? A passport is 
>> easier.
>> Wonder, will an expired one work? How about a Voter Registration card?
>>

I don't have a passport, but if anyone does they most certainly needed 
a birth certificate to get one.  So I don't know that a passport is 
easier.

I go to Canada almost yearly, by plane, train, auto, kayak or bicycle 
(last year I rode my bicycle across the United States, including a 
section in Ontario, entering Canada over the Blue Water Bridge and back 
to U.S. over the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls).  I have entered 
Canada and returned to the United States each time carrying only a 
driver's license and birth certificate.  One year I sent away for a new 
birth certificate because the one I had was created using old brown 
photocopy technology and had faded to unreadability.  It didn't arrive 
in time for my trip to Canada to kayak in the Queen Charlotte Islands.  
I quickly went to the County registrar and obtained a certified voter 
registration card, counting heavily on assurances from several sources 
that it would suffice.  Ironically, my husband completely forgot his 
passport, and we had to have a friend break into our house after we'd 
left to get the passport for us and Overnight Fedex it to us in QCI.  
On our return to the U.S., we took the train from Vancouver to Santa 
Barbara (which meant an Amtrak bus to Seattle.)  Everyone got out of 
the bus at the U.S. border?my husband with a very expensive piece of ID 
in hand (cost of replacing a window at home, plus Fed Ex costs) and me 
with my cheesy voter registration card in hand, both in grubby outdoor 
gear carrying backpacks.  We were never asked to show our 
identification!  We were asked if we were US citizens, and we each 
answered yes.  That was it!  A token tourist, a nicely dressed older 
lady with conventional luggage, was "randomly" picked to be gone over 
with a 30-minute fine-tooth comb.  She was very pissed! That was in 
1998.  In 2002, I drove into Canada from the Upper Peninsula (Michigan) 
with a Canadian-purchased kayak on top, and had all sorts of ID 
clutched in my paw, including the sales receipt showing that the kayak 
was purchased in the states so I wouldn't have to pay import duties.  
The Canadian guy never asked to see my ID, although I had it all in 
hand, including special car insurance certificates, etc.  Amazingly, I 
was not asked for ID coming back to the states in upstate New York!  
The INS/customs guy was very sweet and smiled at a joke I made, and 
never asked for my papers.  I sort of complained because I had gone to 
some trouble to have a whole fistful of documents, and he said I could 
go in the office and get the full treatment if I really wanted to, but 
it wasn't necessary.  I declined.

My husband has had many other occasions to use his passport on entering 
and leaving Canada, including on our cross-country bicycle trip last 
year, and even as the picture ID needed to get on a domestic flight, 
even though it expired a decade ago.  It is not so old, however, that 
his photograph looks very different.  Just a lot more gray hair.  And 
also, his address remains the same.  An expired passport would of 
course not be accepted in any situation where a passport is absolutely 
required for international travel and/or to obtain a visa for 
international travel.    An expired driver's license will not be 
accepted, however, for domestic travel -- or (most likely) to reenter 
the United States.

Regards,

Two Legs