Is a passport required for an overnight anchorage in Canada?

[Sunsetrider]

Originally Posted by deblen

Thank you Dave.This is mainly for Canadians entering USA.
What I don't like about it is that the application process requires a Canadian to send their passport to US CBP for up to 3 mos. during the application process-as I read it. No thanks!

For entry by US citizens to Canada-we have the CanPass system.
US citizens need only send COPIES of their ID to Canadian Customs (CBSA)

CANPASS - Private Boats

Correct me if I'm wrong please.

/ Len

I am happy to report that you are wrong about that. That would be completely unreasonable and unworkable. You apply across the counter with your passport and then wait to receive your card. You never leave it with anyone.

[Lepke]

If everybody aboard has a Nexus card, you can check into Canadian customs by radio.

Canada doesn't like felons or convicted drunk drivers.

[leftbrainstuff]

If you're in Canadian waters, whether sailing, motoring, drifting, lost or anchored, you need to check in.

Sent from my SM-N900T using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[deblen]

Originally Posted by Lepke

If everybody aboard has a Nexus card, you can check into Canadian customs by radio.

Canada doesn't like felons or convicted drunk drivers.

Neither does the US Lepke,nor should each country.
Though you can apply for a "reprieve" to each country I believe.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by Dave Lochner

Our friends to the north can take things seriously, especially when it comes to catching fish in Canadian waters.

See: Canadians expected to clarify their border enforcement policies today on St. Lawrence River | syracuse.com

If you plan to travel to Canada frequently, get a Nexus Card. You'll need to get a passport first.

Once you have the Nexus card you'll be enrolled in the Trusted Traveller Program and can use the TSA Pre-Check lines at the airport and faster lanes when crossing the border.

NEXUS Pass Application | USA Immigration Visa & Travel

Dave
Reading the application requirements for Nexus & I-68 (Canadian entering US by private vessel less than 30ft)
It says I must appear at a US border station to complete the application.
https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...exus/how-apply

/ Len

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

You need to clear in through customs as soon as you touch land. Anchoring or mooring is considered touching land.

Technically speaking Canada does not require Americans to show a passport to enter our country. Other official id will still suffice. However, the USA demands that everyone have a passport to enter ... even its own citizens. So you can come here without your passport. You just can't go back home.


Why go fast, when you can go slow

Happened to a local family. Their kid was stopped by US border agents as the boat she was on came back from a day trip to Canada. No passport, no entry. Canada refused to take her back. Month later she gets out of detention, family out thousands of dollars to prove she is an American(they never had passports), and now banned from Canada for life. Oh the times we live in.

[deblen]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Happened to a local family. Their kid was stopped by US border agents as the boat she was on came back from a day trip to Canada. No passport, no entry. Canada refused to take her back. Month later she gets out of detention, family out thousands of dollars to prove she is an American(they never had passports), and now banned from Canada for life. Oh the times we live in.

Awful when you can't get back in your own country & it works both sides too.
Make work program for lawyers & others.(No-not all lawyers).
I've lived 68yrs on the border & it's now to the point I don't have the desire to cross back or forth-sad.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by leftbrainstuff

If you're in Canadian waters, whether sailing, motoring, drifting, lost or anchored, you need to check in.

Not quite. There is the right of passage (or some such legal term) which allows a vessel which is in transit to carry on through an international waterway. If you are transiting Canadian waters from one American destination to another US destination (or vice versa) you can do so without clearing in as long as you do not stop. And by stop I mean anchor, moor or in any way reach shore.

This does not prevent the host country's border control from intercepting your vessel, and even ordering you to shore to clear in, but as long as you are in transit (moving constantly) towards a destination you can pass through the territorial waters of, in this case, Canada without clearing in.

But clearly this is not what the OP is wanting to do. In his/her case they clearly must clear into Canada, and then clear back into the US.

[jackdale]

On another note. I was on a Canadian registered boat that is moored at Point Roberts WA. After we cleared back into the US after a sail up to Desolation Sound and back, the CBP retained the ships registration papers. They said they would be returned when the vessel cleared out of Point Roberts.

Anyone aware of this policy / procedure?

[deedc]

We sail in Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River. Do not anchor overnight without checking in with Canadian Customs and you MUST check in again with the US. US Border Patrol has met boats in our municipal marina who had not complied with the regulations. There are cameras on the shore and in the St. Clair River as well!

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Not quite. There is the right of passage (or some such legal term) which allows a vessel which is in transit to carry on through an international waterway. If you are transiting Canadian waters from one American destination to another US destination (or vice versa) you can do so without clearing in as long as you do not stop. And by stop I mean anchor, moor or in any way reach shore.

This does not prevent the host country's border control from intercepting your vessel, and even ordering you to shore to clear in, but as long as you are in transit (moving constantly) towards a destination you can pass through the territorial waters of, in this case, Canada without clearing in.

But clearly this is not what the OP is wanting to do. In his/her case they clearly must clear into Canada, and then clear back into the US.

Well something is cross wired: Friend was sailing up the inland passage last month to Alaska when stopped by Canadian folks. Was required to put into port to register. No ifs ands or buts. Sternly told next time boat would be seized. All transient boats entering Canadian waters regardless of reasons must go through customs first. No right of passage, zero.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Well something is cross wired: Friend was sailing up the inland passage last month to Alaska when stopped by Canadian folks. Was required to put into port to register. No ifs ands or buts. Sternly told next time boat would be seized. All transient boats entering Canadian waters regardless of reasons must go through customs first. No right of passage, zero.

It's hard to see how one could do the inland passage in a recreational vessel all the way to Alaska from Washington without stopping somewhere. Even without going to port you're waiting tides/currents at some places. Hard to imagine not having to drop the hook somewhere, even with the most gung-ho crew, so perhaps the authorities simply assume this to be the case. And as I said, the border authorities can always order a vessel in their territorial waters to clear in. You can try and exert the law of the sea at that point, but I wouldn't.

There is also the question of what is a transit passage vs a completely territorial waterway. I know Canada is testy about some of these routes. Perhaps this is one where Canada is asserting it is territorial waterway?

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Well something is cross wired: Friend was sailing up the inland passage last month to Alaska when stopped by Canadian folks. Was required to put into port to register. No ifs ands or buts. Sternly told next time boat would be seized. All transient boats entering Canadian waters regardless of reasons must go through customs first. No right of passage, zero.

Most likely there is more to the story.

Were they going up into bays on the Canadian side, fishing, drifting to watch whales or something else to suggest they were doing more than making progress towards a destination?

It's common practice along the Michigan portion of the border and well established as long as you are making way towards a destination, you don't have to check in if you cross the line. That doesn't mean they can't stop you if there is an issue but not something to be worried about.

[reed1v]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Most likely there is more to the story.

Were they going up into bays on the Canadian side, fishing, drifting to watch whales or something else to suggest they were doing more than making progress towards a destination?

It's common practice along the Michigan portion of the border and well established as long as you are making way towards a destination, you don't have to check in if you cross the line. That doesn't mean they can't stop you if there is an issue but not something to be worried about.

This was the Alaskan passage. Do not think you can do Alaska from Lake Michigan, yet. They were taking their ct54 non stop to Alaska from Seattle.

BTW, Australia also can deny save haven, and safe passage to foreign boats. Latitude 38 years ago had an article about a sailor who asked for "save haven" or port of refuge for a bad engine. Was denied by authorities.

International sailors have little if any rights they can demand foreign nations to recognize. Prisoners of war have more rights. A prudent mariner should make sure they have perfect compliance with protocols.

[Dave Lochner]

Originally Posted by deblen

Thank you Dave.This is mainly for Canadians entering USA.
What I don't like about it is that the application process requires a Canadian to send their passport to US CBP for up to 3 mos. during the application process-as I read it. No thanks!

For entry by US citizens to Canada-we have the CanPass system.
US citizens need only send COPIES of their ID to Canadian Customs (CBSA)

CANPASS - Private Boats

Correct me if I'm wrong please.

/ Len

Last summer my wife and I got our Nexus cards. We did not have to submit our passports, however, you do have to appear at a designated border crossing and be cleared by both the US and Canadian Border Patrols. They will inspect your passport.

The US BP will take electronic fingerprints and the Canadians will take iris scans or at least try to take iris scans. My irises don't scan well.

I've yet to use it when traveling by boat to Canada, but by car it is much easier and shorter lines. That and the Pre-check lines at the airport are shorter and you don't have mess with body scans, removing shoes, etc.

A Can-Pass may be the Canadian version of a Nexus Card.

Also, the link I sent earlier was for a commercial service to complete the forms. Here's the link to the USCBP site:

https://www.cbp.gov/travel/trusted-t...programs/nexus

The forms aren't that hard to complete.

The Nexus office in Ivy Lea at the 1000 Bridge has both Canadian and US Officials in the same office. In Niagara Falls you have to cross the border to go to both offices. They are conveniently located at opposite ends of a Nexus only bridge.