Before your cross-border ride
Prepare for the land crossing before pickup. Check documents, understand the inspection process and plan a private transfer between Canada and the United States.
Start with the traveller
Citizenship, immigration status, age and travel purpose determine the answer. Check each person separately, including children. A ride reservation does not establish permission to enter either country.
Carry a valid Canadian passport or verify another accepted land-entry document with CBP. Canadian passport holders do not need ESTA. Most ordinary visits do not require a U.S. nonimmigrant visa, but some travel purposes do; work, study and immigration arrangements need their own review.
A Canadian PR card does not replace U.S. entry permission. Check the requirements for your nationality and purpose: you may need a visa, or qualify for the Visa Waiver Program. Visa Waiver Program travellers need an approved ESTA before arriving at a land port, not only before a flight. Check whether an I-94 admission record applies to you.
For U.S. citizens, a valid passport is recommended; IRCC also describes alternative identity and citizenship documents for land entry. U.S. permanent residents arriving directly from the U.S. by land can present a valid green card or equivalent valid status document. Carry the documents needed for the complete trip, including your return to the U.S.; requirements for flights differ.
For many visa-exempt passport holders, an eTA is for air travel and is not needed for a land arrival. A traveller who is visa-required should not assume an eTA replaces the visa for a car journey. Canadian permanent residents should check their return documents with IRCC; its own/borrowed/rented private-vehicle rule should not automatically be applied to a hired chauffeur service.
Bring the child’s required travel documents and applicable custody papers. Canada recommends a signed consent letter when a child travels without one or both parents or guardians. The letter supplements identification; it does not replace it. Check the rules for the child’s citizenship and age, as land and air requirements can differ.
The land-border process
The receiving country conducts the entry inspection: CBP for the United States and CBSA for Canada. Follow the officer’s instructions throughout the process.
Before joining the queue, keep each traveller’s documents accessible. Know the destination address, purpose of the visit, planned length of stay and return arrangements. Tell dispatch about fixed arrival deadlines when arranging the ride.
Present the requested documents and answer questions accurately. Be ready to explain your plans and declare what you are carrying. Your chauffeur handles the driving; each traveller remains responsible for their own information and documents.
An officer may direct the vehicle to a secondary area for more questions, document checks or examination of belongings. Secondary inspection can be routine or random and is not, by itself, an accusation of wrongdoing. Follow instructions about parking, leaving the vehicle and presenting bags.
The transfer continues after the authorities release the vehicle and travellers. Inspection duration cannot be promised. For a connecting flight or appointment, build the schedule around an arrival deadline with room for additional processing.
What is in your bags
Check the receiving country’s rules before packing. Something purchased legally at home may still be restricted at the border.
Declare purchases and other items required by the receiving country, including relevant food, plant and animal products. Check rules for medicines, pets, alcohol, tobacco, firearms and currency before travel. Keep receipts and supporting documents accessible; tell the officer if you are unsure about an item.
Cannabis and CBD can be legal locally and still be prohibited at an international border. Do not carry them across without the specific authorizations required by the relevant authorities. A medical prescription alone is not cross-border authorization.
Trusted traveller lanes
Tell dispatch before booking if your party has NEXUS. Dedicated-lane use depends on everyone’s eligibility and the crossing’s operating conditions.
To use a NEXUS lane into Canada, everyone in the vehicle must be a member and carry their card. The receiving country’s lane rules still apply. One passenger’s membership does not provide access for the rest of the vehicle. Confirm the complete party and driver arrangements with dispatch.
NEXUS does not remove inspection or declaration requirements, and lane availability can change. We do not guarantee a NEXUS lane or crossing time. Keep your other required documents with you and allow for the standard crossing process.
Detroit–Windsor and beyond
The shortest published queue is only one part of the decision. Your exact addresses, direction of travel, approach roads and available passenger lanes all matter.
The Ambassador Bridge, Windsor–Detroit Tunnel and Gordie Howe International Bridge serve the Detroit–Windsor corridor. Dispatch reviews the crossing for the itinerary and current conditions; a named crossing on a planning page is not a fixed routing promise.
The Blue Water Bridge connects Point Edward/Sarnia and Port Huron and may suit a different Ontario–Michigan itinerary. For Vancouver–Seattle, use the relevant British Columbia–Washington entries in the official wait tools. Do not apply a Windsor estimate to another crossing or the opposite direction.
Allow time for the complete trip
Use official passenger-lane reports as planning information. Check the direction, lane type and report time before comparing crossings.
CBP reports waits for entry to the U.S.; CBSA reports waits for entry to Canada. Standard passenger lanes differ from commercial or NEXUS lanes. A missing, stale or unavailable report does not mean there is no queue. Published waits do not cover every approach-road delay or additional inspection.
For DTW, SEA or another airport, share the flight and airline’s check-in deadline. The plan needs road time, border processing and airport check-in/security time. For appointments, share the time you must be inside the building. Dispatch can help plan pickup; no fixed buffer guarantees arrival.
The normal border crossing is included. If a traveller-related issue causes a border hold, waiting is charged at USD $2 per minute until the traveller is released. This is different from the normal border queue. Each passenger remains responsible for the entry documents and eligibility applicable to their journey.
Before you confirm
For pickup waiting, fares, changes and cancellation, continue to the cross-border travel FAQ.
No. Transportation and admission are separate. Border authorities make the decision, and each traveller must satisfy the requirements for their circumstances. Resolve document or immigration questions with the relevant official authority before requesting the trip.
For Visa Waiver Program travel, ESTA applies to land entry even when the airport is your destination. Canadian citizens travelling on a Canadian passport do not need ESTA. Confirm your citizenship, status and travel-purpose requirements before leaving.
Dispatch reviews the complete itinerary and available crossing information. A different crossing can add road time. Routing may change with conditions, but a selected crossing does not guarantee the queue or inspection time.
Put your trip plan together
Share the route, pickup date, passengers and luggage. Dispatch reviews availability and confirms the final trip details.
