Travelling to Canada/USA question

I've been looking around for a bit but can't seem to get a consistant answer.

I'm a Canadian living in the UK. My partner is British. We will be going to Canada for Christmas and want to take an evening in the States. My brother will be coming with us and is Canadian. I have a feeling that I will be able to get through the border fine but am wondering about my partner. Is there anything that we have to fill out or can we just go for dinner and come back without hastle.

We will be flying into and out of Canada and staying in hotels till we get to my home town. While we are in Niagara Falls we want to go to the States for a dinner. I know that he doesn't have to fill in ESTA becasue we are not flying into the States.

The research that I have found is about staying/working in the states.....all I want to know is can he travel freely to the States for dinner and back to Canada? It shouldn't be more than a couple of hours.

Many thanks in advance

My understanding is that Visa waiver-eligible persons (like Brits) entering US by land, merely have to show their machine-readable passport. It should be clear to the officer that the stay wil be less than 90 days, which should be pretty easy for you to prove. If the US officer makes your friend fill out an I-94W, he simply will hand it back to the Cdn border officer when he leave US.

Anyone not from the US or Canada requires a visa or a visa waiver. (even just to enter for a few hours - even if he was just on an onward flight that stopped in the US)

You can apply online (and read more about it) here:
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/esta.html ... 58E1088EA0

While all visitors require a visa or visa waiver, by land this waiver can be obtained at the border.

As the website cited above notes ESTA "All passengers traveling under the Visa Waiver Program are required to have an approved travel authorization prior to traveling to the United States by air or sea." Bold mine.

So, as I said, this would be done at the border, not by ESTA.

-- Wed Dec 01, 2010 8:48 am --

Further info:
http://www.consular.canada.usembassy.go ... aq.asp#two

Should a person apply for electronic travel authorization if the traveler plans to enter the U.S. via a land border?
Travelers who make their intial entry into the U.S. by land from either Canada or Mexico are NOT required to apply for travel authorization via ESTA before traveling.