looking at goin to canada in a few weeks, i was wondering its been a while since i’ve been there, i have a passport and my 17 old nephew, but my son is 8 does he need one to get in and back? and his mom and i are not together is there any other paper work i might need to bring thanks 
my son took the kids into canada last year and needed a copy of birth certificate,I think you will need proof that you have custody and can bring him into canada. My nephew 20 and neice 14 crossed ahead of there parents and got tore down and questioned for 3hrs! they wanted to make sure she wasn’t being abducted.
Stan 
•Long before you get in the car or book transportation tickets, find out what are the passport requirements for children.
•Have the necessary ID for your children ready to present to customs officer.
•Divorced parents who share custody of their children should carry copies of the legal custody documents.
•The Canada Border Services Agency suggests identification such as an original birth certificate, baptismal certificate, passport, or immigration document. If none of these are available, get a letter stating that you are the children’s parent or guardian from your doctor or lawyer, or from the hospital where the children were born.
•Adults who are not parents or guardians should have written permission from the parents or guardians to supervise the children, including the name and contact information of the parent / guardian
•Even if you are not divorced from the child’s other parent, bring the other parent’s written permission to take the child over the border. Include contact information so border guard can call the other parent if necessary.
•Adults / Guardians should travel in the same vehicle as their children when arriving at the border.
•Children old enough to speak for themselves may be encouraged to do so by the customs officer, so be prepared to let older children answer the officer’s questions.
For more information on bringing children across the Canadian border.
When they ask your child if their mom knows that they are crossing make sure they answer correctly. 4 years ago when a friend and I went across with Tuck they ask him if his mom knew he was crossing and he said NO. 
My buddy repeated the question ,and Tuck stated oh yea. I thought officer asked if my mom was with. The officer kinda smiled and said you shoulda seen the looked on your two faces. 
Reading your post and applaud you for taking the kids on an adventure!
At the same time I was thinking about all the years I fished Ontario and now would much rather go to Red Wing and P-4…Especially with the border hassles.
I would take a good look at Rainy Lake… 
Been to Rainy and the Miss, nothing wrong with them, but the “hassle” of proving your citzenship is worth the trip for Canadian fishing for me 
I think it would be best for you to get at least the passport card, if not a full passport, for everyone in the group. It’s not getting into Canada that is the difficulty, it is the retunr to the US that requires more than a birth certificate. I have been stopped and checked going into Canada and coming back to the US. It is a hassle, but carrying a passport is the best identification a person can have.
Make sure permission slips from your spouse/ex-spouse are notarized,
Make sure she is ok with your trip and have her phone number where she can be reached at time of crossing.
Any questions will be resolved more quickly.
Good luck and have a great time.
thanks for the info
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looking at goin to canada in a few weeks, i was wondering its been a while since i’ve been there, i have a passport and my 17 old nephew, but my son is 8 does he need one to get in and back? and his mom and i are not together is there any other paper work i might need to bring thanks
Holy Moses is there some outdated info on this thread.
Yes, as of almost 3 years ago, EVERYONE crossing the US/Canada boarder in either direction MUST, MUST, MUST have a valid passport. The includes children of any age.
Just bite the bullet and get the passport, Americans need to get used to having one and nowdays you’re just causing yourself grief by not having one for every member of the family. Backlogs are minimal now, so it only takes a few weeks. You can do a rush passport at several locations around Minneapolis, a friend of mine got his done in 3 days and the extra cost isn’t really that bad.
I would advise against just getting the passport card due to the limitations on its use. It’s only good for Canada and ONLY FOR LAND CROSSING. It cannot be used for air travel, even to Canada. Given those limitations, it’s much easier to just get a real passport that can be used anywhere.
In addition, you will authorization from your son’s mother. I know that much, but I haven’t had firsthand experience so I’d advise you look up the exact requirements. Pay very special attention to the fact the in many cases signatures must be notarized.
Grouse
And give yourself plenty of time to cross border or do it after hours. I hear the line during the day can take hours. I heard up to 7!
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And give yourself plenty of time to cross border or do it after hours. I hear the line during the day can take hours. I heard up to 7!
Where did you hear this? About which crossing?
I’ve used all the MN crossings dozens of times and the longest it’s ever taken me was a an hour and a quarter and that’s because they decided for whatever reason to search our whole rig, truck, boat, and trailer. That was the Ineternational Falls crossing, and on average this is the crossing that seems to take the longest probably due to heavy commercial traffic.
Outside of MN, it took just over an hour one day to cross in Washington state headed for Vancouver. Again, a very heavily used crossing.
Coming in from Mexico is a totally different story.
Grouse
Intl Falls. I went back and read the post again. Apparently some people have not had an issue. But some have.
Didnt mean to scare you. I just read that this morning and was trying to help.
Don’t want to confuse this issue, but there is some misinfo posted and needs to be corrected:
1) Although it is very good advice and highly recommended you have one, you do not need a passport to enter Canada. But, you might as well get one, because the US does require one for entry. The fact that you do not need a passport to enter Canada can be verified on the Canadian Border Service Agency’s official web page at http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/admiss-eng.html#s1
2) Children under the age of 16 do not need a passport to return to the US, when traveling by auto. This fact can be verified on the official Department of the State web page at http://travel.state.gov/passport/get/minors/minors_834.html
3) The excerpt below, about traveling with minors, is directly from the Canadian Border Services official web page http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/security-securite/admiss-eng.html#s1
“Parents who share custody of their children should carry copies of the legal custody documents. It is also recommended that they have a consent letter from the other custodial parent to take the child on a trip out of the country. The parents’ full name, address and telephone number should be included in the consent letter.
When travelling with a group of vehicles, parents or guardians should arrive at the border in the same vehicle as the children.
Adults who are not parents or guardians should have written permission from the parents or guardians to supervise the children. The consent letter should include addresses and telephone numbers where the parents or guardian can be reached.
4) This link will take you to a template to follow when preparing a consent letter for children who are traveling without both parents. http://www.voyage.gc.ca/preparation_information/consent-letter_lettre-consentement-eng
This should clear things up. Let me know if you have any questions.
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looking at goin to canada in a few weeks, i was wondering its been a while since i’ve been there, i have a passport and my 17 old nephew, but my son is 8 does he need one to get in and back? and his mom and i are not together is there any other paper work i might need to bring thanks
Holy Moses is there some outdated info on this thread.
Yes, as of almost 3 years ago, EVERYONE crossing the US/Canada boarder in either direction MUST, MUST, MUST have a valid passport. The includes children of any age.
Just bite the bullet and get the passport, Americans need to get used to having one and nowdays you’re just causing yourself grief by not having one for every member of the family. Backlogs are minimal now, so it only takes a few weeks. You can do a rush passport at several locations around Minneapolis, a friend of mine got his done in 3 days and the extra cost isn’t really that bad.
I would advise against just getting the passport card due to the limitations on its use. It’s only good for Canada and ONLY FOR LAND CROSSING. It cannot be used for air travel, even to Canada. Given those limitations, it’s much easier to just get a real passport that can be used anywhere.
In addition, you will authorization from your son’s mother. I know that much, but I haven’t had firsthand experience so I’d advise you look up the exact requirements. Pay very special attention to the fact the in many cases signatures must be notarized.
Grouse
This is incorrect!!
http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html
Check it out
Chad..we must have posted at the same time. Didn’t mean to be redundant. Chad has all the good info in his post.
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