Victoria without Passport

[cgsample]

I chose a Seattle to Seattle cruise because I don't have a passport and the wait was 10 weeks.

 

Will I be allowed to go ashore in Victoria without one?

[newbiefromvancouver]

If you are an American all you need is your birth certificate and a drivers licence (or other government issued photo ID) to get into Canada. Shouldn't be a problem at all. The rules will be changing in the next few years.

[Ephraim]

Canada does not have a requirement for US citizens to have a passport, even when flying. The requirement is entirely American and at the moment, that is only for flying.

 

You instead need proof of birth or American citizenship, birth certificate or green card. You may also be asked for photo ID, like a driver's licence.

 

It will all be handled at the pier by your cruise line. They will photocopy the documents for the Canadian officials.

 

The requirement for land/sea by law is supposed to happen any time between January 2008 and June 2009, with congress asking for the later date. But the Bush government is pushing for it to go into place in January 2008 despite the fact that the US government is about 3 months behind in issuing passports. The US government has also suggested the issuing of passport cards, but that would require Canada to agree, which is unlikely because the US refused all proposed passport cards that Canada has suggested so far.

 

The senate currently has a bill to delay the implementation of the passport requirement until after a test of a new driver's licence initiative in Washington State and British Columbia. But that's just a bill, not law.

 

The entire WHI is actually quite a fiasco. Neither Canada nor the USA were ready for the onslaught of passport applications and US border towns are worried about their survival if the second part comes into fruition. We have to wait for the fall/winter to see the effect on travel to the US, but there are already suspicions that travel to the Southern US will be replaced with vacation spots like Cuba and the Dominican, since flights and hotels are cheaper. And considering that an terrorist is unlikely to present himself at a border, this is all gesturing to make people feel more secure when of the 1.1 million people who pass through the US borders each day, the US detains approximately 1 person on suspicion of terrorism.