United States

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• The United States has a strict and notoriously perplexing visa policy; nearly everyone needs a visa to visit the country, and obtaining an American visa of any kind can be a complicated and cumbersome affair.
• Read up carefully before your visit, especially if you need to apply for a visa, and consult the [https://www.state.gov/bureaus-offices/under-secretary-for-management/bureau-of-consular-affairs/ Bureau of Consular Affairs]. Travelers have been refused entry for many reasons, often trivial. During the application process, visitors to the U.S. are required to fully document mobile phone numbers, e-mail addresses and on-line identities they've used in the past five years.
• Travelers under 18 years old may need a notarized letter of consent, preferably in English, from both their parents. If the border authorities aren't satisfied with this or with your travel plans and their documentation, you may get taken into the authorities' care for months until they can arrange your return.
• New immigration practices were introduced in 2025 that resulted in the questionable detention of a few visitors with apparently valid travel documents at a port of entry. Detentions would last until the visitor departed on a flight back home. However, a few visitors have been detained for a few weeks before being allowed on a return flight. If you fear this problem (due to work permits, residing with an American spouse, problems on a prior visit or political opinions, for example), using an airport with pre-flight US Customs clearance airports would be safe: while you could still be denied entry, you won't get detained as you would still be outside of US jurisdiction.

• Over half a million people cross the U.S.–Canada and U.S.–Mexico borders each day. Current wait times (updated hourly) are available on the [https://bwt.cbp.gov/ U.S. customs service website]. The average wait time is around 30 minutes, although this varies significantly depending on the crossing location. Urban crossings see more traffic, and delays at the busiest crossings can approach 1–2 hours at peak times such as weekends and holidays. Foreigners entering by land are required to pay a $6 fee when crossing the border, however this fee is waived if you made a side trip to Canada or Mexico and are simply re-entering the U.S.
• The U.S.–Mexico border is the primary entryway for drug traffic into the country. As a precaution, your vehicle may be X-rayed or scanned by a drug-sniffing dog, and if you arouse suspicion, your vehicle may be thoroughly searched.
• Crossing the border from Canada in a rental car is relatively straightforward with one of the large multinational companies. Be sure to inform the car rental company, even if you do not intend to spend the night in the U.S., as additional documentation will be required. The large multinational car companies usually permit you to pick up your rental car in Canada and drop it off in the U.S. and vice versa.
• Rental cars from Mexico usually cannot be brought into the U.S. Depending on the rental company, some U.S. rental cars may be driven into Mexico with prior arrangements and additional fees, but are restricted to the border region and cannot be dropped off in Mexico. This is usually only possible if you are renting a car in the states bordering Mexico.

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