New question at the US border: TWO pieces of identification!!

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Elly Dalmaijer

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Joined
Aug 10, 2006
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362
We cross into the USA from Canada with a Canadian passport at least three time a year since 1966. Yesterday we were asked something we have NEVER encountered before: we were asked for a SECOND piece of ID in addition to our valid (Canadian) passports.
Jack produced his AB drivers licence but mine is being renewed and the temporary licence has no picture.
"No problem" said the Customs Agent, "We also take a Costco card".

Sorry but this made us laugh hysterically, just thinking about two pieces of ID needed for Canadians to enter the USA: your passport and your Costco card!

The border crossing was  Salmo BC/Metalline Falls WA.

Elly
 
Ellie,

In my opinion the Costco card is the better ID as both Costco and Amex (if you have the AMEX) are more sure of who you are than any government.  :)
 
Jim, Costco knows that we like pickled herring, Boursin cheese and mixed nuts. Must be crucial information.

Elly
 
Elly, two forms of ID have been required for some time. The fact that the Border Patrol officer offered to accept a Costco ID card is IMHO a positive thing, and an example of what I've personally experienced.
 
When I was asked for a second ID, not at a border crossing however, my Sam's Club card was accepted as it's also a photo ID.
 
From dhs.gov website:

>>>Land/Sea Travel

Canadian Citizens -

    Canadian citizens will need to present a single document that complies with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). See www.getyouhome.gov for more information.<<<

And from the website of the US Customs and Border Protection:
>>What travel documents and identification are required for a foreign national to enter the U.S.?

A foreign national or alien entering the U.S. is generally required to present a passport and valid visa issued by a U.S. Consular Official, unless they are a citizen of a country eligible for the Visa Waiver Program, or are a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. or a citizen of Canada. <<<

Both websites clearly state that "a single document" is required.

Are there other Canadian citizens on this forum that have been asked for a second piece of ID when crosing by land into the US?

Elly
   
 
It's possible, probably even likely, that the web site information is out of date.
 
Elly Dalmaijer said:
We cross into the USA from Canada with a Canadian passport at least three time a year since 1966. Yesterday we were asked something we have NEVER encountered before: we were asked for a SECOND piece of ID in addition to our valid (Canadian) passports.
Jack produced his AB drivers licence but mine is being renewed and the temporary licence has no picture.
"No problem" said the Customs Agent, "We also take a Costco card".

Sorry but this made us laugh hysterically, just thinking about two pieces of ID needed for Canadians to enter the USA: your passport and your Costco card!

The border crossing was  Salmo BC/Metalline Falls WA.

Elly
Not all border guards are bright + you just meet one dummy .  It is  a KNOWN fact of law that a passport is the holy grail and its the single ID item needed to cross into the us or Canada. Nothing has changed and there  is No "out of date website "   
A Costco card would be the most easily counterfeited form of ID in this world. too funny  besides that for example my costco picture on my card is 17 years old
 
Web sites do change, especially those related to US immigration and border crossings, and I've had to update the relevant info posted here on a number of occasions due to such changes. However, in this case, I suspect the officer was having his daily entertainment. I've witnessed similar things first hand, both where a friend was being teased and where my wife was being teased. I didn't have an issue with any of them, and laughed when I realized what was going on. OTOH a friend thought he might have a heart attack; The officer didn't know that a couple of us had wound our friend up for several days prior to the encounter.
 
Tom, this was no entertainment for the custom officer! Believe me, this man was SERIOUS! Not only that, we have learned in 48 years of US border crossings that you just simply NEVER EVER joke with a Customs Officer. I even bit my tongue when one of them asked me 2 years ago (when I was 69) "When was the last time you were arrested or finger printed?". Oh I could have had fun with that but I contained myself! 

Funny thing is that when we fly we get the "TSA approved" stamp on our boarding pass and can skip most of the security measures because we travel so much that we have proven by now to be trustworthy.

Anyway Costco card fake or real proved my honesty. Mmmm.... Border Crossing sponsored by Costco?!

 
Elly, I wouldn't suggest anyone but the officer treat it as entertainment (i.e. don't have fun at their expense). I've never had/seen any issues traveling by air, maybe because I traveled internationally for a living. That saved my bacon when we arrived from Mexico aboard our boat and I couldn't remember where I'd put our passports 3 months earlier; They asked for my drivers license, made a phone call, and said "you're in our computer and you're good to go".

The times I witnessed the 'officer entertainment' events (one by water and one by road), the officers looked dead serious.
 
This is a little off topic but my encounter with Canadian humor was when I was ferrying a Cessna Citation back from Europe and was on approch to CFB Goose Bay, Labrador with about 45 minutes of fuel left. (Goose is a long way from anywhere!) We were handed off to the tower whose first transmission was something to the effect:

"N550BA we can't find any record that you filled out RCAF form XXX for permission to land here so are you prepared to divert?" After stuttering for a few seconds I asked if we needed to declare an emergency to land and the tower responded: Oh that's OK , just fill it out at Customs."

HE thought it was funny.
 
Here's two 'BP officer entertainment' events I witnessed first hand:

Here and here.
 
In respect to Elly's, comment regarding arrests and finger printing, I would very likely answer that I have never been arrested (true) but I would be very tempted to forget that I was printed while a member of the RCAF in my younger days and spent 17 years with them. I would never be able to recall  the year, let alone date!! Answering questions like that can easily turn into a nightmare.

My creed: when crossing the boarder, answer exactly what is asked, no more, no less..... period. If the officer required 2 pieces of ident, regardless of the various, always changing, regulations, he would get it without my comments.

Any officer on a power trip can ban you from entering USA for a given period of time. And the appeal to that ruling?? There is no appeal!!
 
Stu, you are so right. I had definitely never been arrested either and I had been fingerprinted last when I still traveled on a Dutch passport.  But oh was I ever tempted to answer a little more along the lines of "I do remember the second last time I was arrested.... etc".

With visas from countries like Pakistan, Sudan, Mali, Niger etc in my passport I usually get the question what I do for a living. Even when I had a brand new passport with no visas at all, a customs officer scanned it and said "Wow your travel to a lot of strange countries.." They can tell, even from a blank passport. So being asked for my Costco card seemed very funny.

I wonder what will happen when I apply for a Nexus card....

Elly

 
The only things they need the passport for is the bar code and your picture. It was in my second year of snowbirding and I was asked where I was going to stay, I reeled off what I thought was the correct address and he said to me " Did you mean 1695 Diamond???"  OOPS! Not much they don't know after a few trips south crossing the boarder. (And Yes!! I did remember the correct address after that one!!!)
 
Alfa38User said:
The only things they need the passport for is the bar code and your picture. It was in my second year of snowbirding and I was asked where I was going to stay, I reeled off what I thought was the correct address and he to me " Did you mean 1695 Diamond???"  OOPS! Not much they don't know after a few trips south crossing the boarder. (And Yes!! I did remember the correct address after that one!!!)
yes but the only way he would know the address is because you gave it to them the year previous
 
Of course!!! But they do ask that question often, not necessarily each time, but very often!!!!! Then they cross check the answer with the computer!!
 
With visas from countries like Pakistan, Sudan, Mali, Niger etc in my passport I usually get the question what I do for a living.

Aye, multiple visas from foreign countries seem to raise a red flag for some officers. When we crossed into Maine by RV, the BP officer asked me what I did for a living and, when I explained, he said "ah, that explains all those visas from Middle East countries". I politely let him know that all those countries (inc Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, China, Singapore & Indonesia) were in the Far East (aka Asia), not the Middle East. He said "Oh, you're right". Maybe he flunked geography  ???
 
Just to clarify, and this is from the "horses mouth:"  If the agent decides he/she can ask for 5 pieces of ID. 

If the agent does not like your answer or you are giving them "attitude:" you will find yourself in secondary inspection which can be "lengthy and brutal" if your attitude does not improve.

ALL Websites, rumors,  personal experiences aside,  the bottom line is: The agent has the sole power to decide if you are going to enter the country or not.

A lot of responsibility rests on their shoulders, and 99% of them take their job very seriously.

Give them the respect they deserve, be polite, provide the requested information, don't lie, or conceal banned items, and your crossing will go well.
 
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