February 2011 Applicants

These days, ditto, to board an international flight (even from New York State in the U.S. to Toronto in Canada) on a commercial carrier, most likely (w/ v. rare exceptions) the passenger must display a valid passport.

Travel by ground from the U.S. to Canada is somewhat different. There are alternative forms of identification, for example, that Canadians and Americans can present at the border.

However, it matters (at least some) who is seeking entry to which country. A Canadian citizen is entitled to enter Canada . . . they should have and present currently valid, apropriate travel documents, preferrably a currently valid passport but other specified identification will suffice, but mostly they need to establish identity and citizenship (identity plus birth in Canada suffices) and that will work . . . may mean a referral to secondary at the POE, but it should be no big deal.

In the past, an expired passport, so long as it is not a cancelled one, would suffice at a land crossing POE as sufficient proof of identity and status. It is, after all, still documentation evidencing identity and nationality. I am not sure of how acceptable that is today but it should still suffice, albeit one may have to sit in secondary awhile while they sort things out and confirm the individual's identity.

Even without one of the specified forms of identification, once a Canadian citizen appears at a POE the only question is one of identity (status often, if not largely being tied to identity) and so long as identity is established, entry should follow . . . although, again, a referral to secondary and some scrutiny to assure identity, and status, may be part of the process at the POE. No big deal. Remain calm. Be polite. Be patient. Fortunately the Canadian side officers at the POE are usually reasonable and not confrontational (OK, there are reports of exceptions, but in around a hundred or so crossings I never encountered the exception, even when eavesdropping on others there, which I am wont to do), so anyone who is really a Canadian citizen should encounter, at worst, a brief delay and a few questions at the POE, and then be allowed to proceed on their way. (Not at all as antognistic as the U.S. entry oft times is, even for U.S. citizens simply returning "home.")

Great news! I got the Confirmation of Permanent Residence today! We're going to go near the end of June.