iPad image of passport didn’t help Canadian cross border: U.S. Customs

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency says a Canadian man shouldn’t credit his iPad for helping him enter their country.

The agency is responding to the case of Martin Reisch — a Montrealer who says he used a scanned copy of his passport and a regular driver’s licence to get through U.S. Customs.

A U.S. Customs spokeswoman says the department does not accept scanned or digital images of passports as identification.

Jenny Burke says the officer admitted Reisch into the country after checking his identity and citizenship using the driver’s licence and birth certificate he provided.

Reisch has said he only handed the officer his iPad and the driver’s licence.

Burke also says Canadian travellers can still enter the U.S. by land or sea without presenting one of the documents listed under tighter documentation rules enforced since 2009.

She says a border guard can use other forms of identification to admit a Canadian who does not present a hard-copy passport, enhanced driver’s licence or a trusted traveller card.

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