Border Crossings

As of June 2009, in order to reenter the United States from Canada by land, citizens and legal residents of the United States ages 19 and older need a passport or a state-issued “enhanced” driver's license that some states, such as New York, are currently offering. By air, a passport is required. Naturalized U.S. residents should also carry their naturalization certificate, and permanent residents should also carry their green card. Children 18 and younger need only a birth certificate. Go to the Department of Homeland Security Web site (www.dhs.gov/travel) and click on Travel Security for up-to-the-minute information.

Avoid crossing at high-traffic times, especially Friday night and Sunday night. The Rainbow Bridge, connecting Niagara Falls, New York, to Niagara Falls, Ontario, is almost always more congested than Buffalo’s Peace Bridge or the Lewiston–Queenston Bridge.