I was challenged using my Voter Identification card (from the State of
Georgia) to enter the United States from Canada at Montreal/Dorval
Airport.  The US Immigration official accused me of having forged this
card--needless to say, no one at my polling places in Atlanta ever
thought to even ask for it--but it does prove citizenship.  They finally
let me on the plane, but they caused me to come close to missing my
flight.  I applied for a passport almost immediately after getting back
to Atlanta.  I haven't been asked for it from US Immigration officials
since.  It's still a good idea to have one if you plan on crossing the
US-Canadian border.  Especially since the US Immigration officials have
a reputation even before 9-11 of being paranoid.

_____

Donald Baxter  Iowa City, Iowa
(319) 337-0494
www.mindspring.com/~onanov

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of Ed Stevens
Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2001 12:49 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Crossing the Border the easy way

on 12/11/01 12:56 PM, Chris Smith at chris.smith@AQUILA.NET wrote:

> 8) Identification.  Your drivers license is not proof of citizenship,
> nor is a voters registration card.  Bring either a passport or birth
> certificate for each person in the van.  If any passengers are
> naturalized, be sure they have proper papers.  This is a very big deal

> getting into the US.

And Americans driving into Canada are suppose to have an insurance card
to document car insurance in Canada.  Call your insurance company a
month in advance and get it.  Though many will tell you it was not
needed (and indeed most US citizens crossing into Canada do not have it)
it does prove you have paid attention to the laws of Canada and that can
help.

--
Sincerely,
Ed Stevens
Valley Forge PA