Ducati Monster Forum

fyi , http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008807100396

I'm hoping they are correct with regards to easier travel to Canada.  I'd like a bike trip to Nova Scotia.  [moto]

Why do we need this?  If you can get a passport then this is unnecessary and a additional cost.

Great it will work for Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean.  When I go elsewhere I will still have to buy and use a passport, so regardless I will have to pay extra for a license that doesn't do anything more for me than the last.  It doesn't make me feel any safer from terrorism either.

Maybe I'm just missing something here?

I don't mind.  There were times I was visiting areas close to the Canadian border and I had only my NYS license with me.  At the spur of the moment, I wanted to visit Canada but couldn't because I didn't have my passport.  I prefer not to carry my USA passport everywhere I go in the USA.   For me, it's just a convenience for those unplanned spur of the moment trips  [thumbsup].

I thought they made the Passport card just for this purpose?

I agree.  However, it's not a passport replacement.  It's an alternative.

quote from article:

"Passport alternative
- Since it is a driver's license, it will be easier to carry than a passport. That will make it especially convenient for people who make frequent or unplanned border crossings.

- It will be valid for up to eight years, the same as a current driver's license.

- It will cost $30 more than a current driver's license — that means a total of $80 for most motorists. But it will be cheaper than a passport. "

Unless it goes through the DoS and subject to the same requirements needed to get a real passport, it's just a big contradiction imo.

I'm hoping so too. 

I went to Canada and returned just using my NYS drivers license, the old non "enhanced" one.  It worked fine and I had no issue.  Of course this was in 1998 so things may have changed since then  ;D

I haven't crossed into Canada anytime in the last fifteen years, but I think I remember hearing that since 9/11, border controls have tightened and some or all border crossings now require a passport, at least on major roads...

What I don't get is exactly HOW this thing works as a passport alternative any better than a regular license. Unless there are stiffer background checks or it goes through some federal agency, then I don't see (1) why Canada would recognize it as a passport equivalent and (2) what the justification is for charging $30 more for it.

Maybe I'm just cynical, but the whole thing strikes me as a moneymaking scheme.

Meh...

I went to Montreal last month and Passports were required. It was actually the first item border agents asked for when entering and leaving.

is this the drivers license with the microchip in it?  if so... I'm not interested in it.