Somewhat surprisingly, a resourceful Canadian was able to gain entry into the U.S. with nothing more than an image of his passport and an iPad 2.
Martin Reisch was about 30 minutes from the border when he realized that he had forgotten his passport. Having stored an image on his iPad, he wung it, showed the customs agent, and was able to gain entrance to the good ole’ U.S. of A.
According to the Winnipeg Free Press:
He kind of gave me a stare, like neither impressed nor amused,” Reisch said of their exchange last Friday in southern Quebec. The officer took the iPad into the border office for five minutes before coming back out to give Reisch the green light and wish him happy holidays. “He was very nice about it,” he said of the officer. “I think a good part of it had to do with the fact that it was the holidays and I seem like a nice-enough person.”
For a country so uptight about its security, I’m kind of bewildered that this actually has a successful end result. Those border security people are a scary bunch. There has been no word from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department on whether photocopies, pictures, iPads, or other copied materials can be used in these circumstances, but if we had to hazard a guess we’d suggest not trying this unless you plan on going home to get your passport.
