Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
17
the Caribbean islands and r eturn to the
United S tates without a visa. F urther
information is av ailable fr om any U.S.
embassy or consulate. Canadian citiz ens
may enter the United States without visas;
they need only proof of residence.
Citizens of all other countries must
have (1) a v alid passpor t that expir es at
least 6 months later than the scheduled
end of their visit to the United States, and
(2) a tourist visa, which may be obtained
without charge from any U.S. consulate.
$100 worth of gifts. These exemptions are
offered to trav elers who spend at least 72
hours in the U nited States and who hav e
not claimed them within the pr eceding 6
months. It is forbidden to bring into the
country foodstuffs (par ticularly fr uit,
cooked meats, and canned goods) and
plants (v egetables, seeds, tr opical plants,
and the like). Foreign tourists may carry in
or out up to $10,000 in U.S. or for eign
currency with no formalities; larger sums
must be declar ed to U.S. C ustoms on
entering or leaving, which includes filing
form CM 4790. For details regarding U.S.
Customs and Bor der P rotection, consult
your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate, or
U.S. Customs
(
&
877/227-5511
or 703/
526-4200; www.cbp.gov).
MEDICAL REQUIREMENTS
Unless you're arriving from an area known
to be suffering from an epidemic (particu-
larly cholera or y ellow fever), inoculations
or vaccinations are not r equired for entr y
into the U nited S tates. I f y ou hav e a
medical condition that r equires
syringe-
administered medications,
carr y a v alid
signed prescription from your physician—
the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
no longer allows airline passengers to pack
syringes in their carry-on baggage without
documented proof of medical need. If you
have a disease that requires treatment with
narcotics,
y ou should also carr y docu-
mented pr oof with y ou—smuggling nar-
cotics aboar d a plane is a serious offense
that carries severe penalties in the U.S.
For
HIV-positive visitors,
r equire-
ments for entering the U nited S tates ar e
somewhat v ague and change fr equently.
For up-to-the-minute information, con-
tact
AIDSinfo
(
&
800/448-0440
or 301/
519-6616 outside the U.S.; www.aidsinfo.
nih.gov) or the
Gay Men's Health Crisis
(
&
212/367-1000;
www.gmhc.org).
CUSTOMS
What You Can Bring
Into San Francisco
Every visitor mor e than 21 y ears of age
may bring in, fr ee of duty, the follo wing:
(1) 1 liter of wine or har d liquor; (2) 200
cigarettes, 100 cigars (but not from Cuba),
or 3 pounds of smoking tobacco; and (3)
What You Can Take Home
from San Francisco
Canadian Citizens
For a clear summar y of
Canadian
r ules,
write for the booklet
I Declare,
issued by
the
Canada B order S ervices A gency
(
&
800/461-9999
in Canada, or 204/
983-3500; www.cbsa.gc.ca). Canada allows
its citizens a C$750 exemption, and you're
allowed to bring back duty-fr ee 200 ciga-
rettes, 50 cigars, 1.14 liters of liquor or 1.5
liters of wine. I n addition, y ou're allowed
to mail gifts to Canada v alued at less than
C$60 a day , pr ovided they 're unsolicited
and don't contain alcohol or tobacco (write
on the package “U nsolicited gift, under
$60 v alue”). All v
2
aluables should be
declared on the Y-38 form befor e depar-
ture fr om Canada, including serial num-
bers of valuables you already own, such as
expensive for eign cameras. N ote: The
$750 exemption can only be used once a
year and only after an absence of 7 days.
U.K. Citizens
U.K. citiz ens r eturning fr om
a non-EU
country
have a customs allowance of: 200
cigarettes; 50 cigars; 250 grams of smok-
ing tobacco; 4 liters of still table wine; 1
liter of spirits or strong liqueurs (over 22%
