Passport stamps between U.S. & Canada by car?

[jxn 86]

My wife and I are planning on spending a day in Montreal this weekend and we enjoy getting our passports stamped during international travel. I usually fly, and in countries where I've done immigration by car or boat, I normally do get standard entry and exit stamps.

I entered Canada by car once several years back and neither country stamped me in or out. They just scanned my passport, asked me a few questions, and I was on my way. Is it possible to request a passport stamp? If it makes a difference, we will enter and exit Canada through Vermont or New York. Thanks!

[NikLR 13,227]

I suppose you can. They may look at you funny.

[Unidentified 2,930]

They didn't give you a stamp? I visited Canada by car about 1-2 years ago and I am pretty sure I have a stamp in my passport after that.

[NikLR 13,227]

They often dont stamp. Lol

[Teddy B 17,251]

I suppose you can. They may look at you funny.

Exactly what I was thinking. Either that or pull him into secondary for suspicious behavior.

My wife and I have traveled back and forth over the US/Canadian border well over a dozen times each and have never gotten passport stamps.

[Chalandrae 30]

My fiance had his passport stamped only once in 3 years. I think for US/Canada border it just depends on which agent you get that day.

And you can always ask haha, I would like to know their answer!!

[jxn 86]

Hey everyone, I have some updates regarding my question and travels.

My friend who has the ten-year LPR green card but an expired foreign passport decided not to come on the trip. Although most U.S. and Canadian resources online said a valid green card was fine in an of itself for land travel to Canada, she didn't want to take any risks.

My wife (who has a two-year conditional green card) and I arrived to the Vermont-Quebec border by car two weekends ago and I asked the Canadian border guard this very question. He said a valid green card is all that is needed. There was no American border control for leaving the U.S. He also stamped our passports without me needing to ask, which was great; I love collecting travel stamps! He stamped my American passport and stamped my wife's foreign passport and hand-wrote her USCIS Number (Alien Number) in pencil below the stamp. When my wife and I have flown back into the U.S. from abroad, CBP does the same thing.

Returning from Canada the next day, the U.S. border guard let us in and I asked if it was possible to get passport stamps. She said I could pull over and park, then walk in to the office building and request it there. There was a small line but everyone was involved in pretty complex and bureaucratic matters. When I asked a CBP officer what the process would be to just get passport stamps she said we would have to wait in line like everyone else before being processed. I wouldn't be surprised if the line ended up being over an hour, so after ten minutes of waiting my wife and I just went back to the car and continued through Vermont without American entry stamps.

Overall our time in the car with the border agent entering both Canada and the U.S. was probably two minutes each with a few basic questions here and there.

[BBCC 16]

They stamp passports when you arrive by air. Usually not by land. Sometimes they don't even have a stamp in the booth you drive up to but it might be easier to get one if you go through as a pedestrian because you walk inside through the secondary inspection area.

[Jawaree 717]

Exactly what I was thinking. Either that or pull him into secondary for suspicious behavior.

My wife and I have traveled back and forth over the US/Canadian border well over a dozen times each and have never gotten passport stamps.

LOL that's what I thought....They may think what trick you got up your sleeve