ESTA, eTA, driving licence and insurance: what paperwork do you need for an RV trip in America or Canada?

Paperwork in the right order

An RV trip in America or Canada doesn't start with the RV, but with a handful of documents you need to arrange in time from the Netherlands or Belgium. It's less work than it seems, as long as you keep to the order: first check passports, then apply for travel authorisation (ESTA for the United States, eTA for Canada), then go over driving licence and credit card, and finally line up the insurance policies.

This guide describes the procedures as we read them on the official sites in September 2026. We deliberately don't mention fees or exact processing times: they change, and the only place you'll find them reliably is the government site itself. Use only those official sites, too — there are commercial intermediary sites offering the same form for many times the amount.

If you're travelling with children: each needs their own passport. A Belgian Kids-ID or a Dutch identity card is not valid as a travel document outside Europe, and travel authorisation is applied for per passport — even for a baby. If a child travels with one parent or with grandparents, bring a consent declaration from the other parent(s) with a copy of their ID; border officers may ask for it, and the Dutch and Belgian governments provide a sample form. Arrange children's passports first, because processing times at the municipality grow in the weeks before the summer holidays.

ESTA for the United States

Dutch and Belgian nationals travel visa-free to the United States for tourist stays of up to 90 days, provided they hold an ESTA travel authorisation in advance. You apply exclusively through esta.cbp.dhs.gov, the site of US Customs and Border Protection; the current fee and payment method are listed there. Per traveller you need the passport, an email address and the address of your first overnight stay — exactly the hotel near the pickup point that you have to book anyway because of the 24-hour rule.

An approved ESTA is generally valid for two years or until your passport expires, and covers multiple trips. Apply well in advance: the official site advises at least 72 hours before departure, but most applications are processed faster. The application form is regularly extended with new questions, for instance about previous travel; fill everything in truthfully and check the passport details letter by letter, because a typo means a new application.

Keep the ESTA number with your travel documents and also put it in your Kamptribe trip plan under travel companions. Note: an ESTA is permission to board, not a guarantee of entry — the final decision rests with the border officer. A valid ESTA remains usable if you drive briefly into Canada or Mexico during the trip and return. Anyone switching to a new passport applies for a new ESTA as well — the authorisation is tied to the passport number.

eTA for Canada and combining it with the US

Canada has a comparable system: the electronic Travel Authorization, or eTA. Dutch and Belgian nationals need one when they travel to Canada by air. You apply only through canada.ca/eta, the Canadian government's site, per traveller and with the passport to hand. The eTA is linked to your passport number and remains valid for up to five years or until the passport expires.

A nuance that matters for RV travellers: the eTA is a requirement for arrival by air. If you fly to Seattle and drive the RV across the border to Vancouver or the Rockies, the normal passport rules apply at the land border, not the eTA. Conversely: if you land in Calgary or Vancouver and later drive into the US, you need your ESTA for that crossing. Check the current rules on both official sites shortly before departure.

If you combine both countries, also check with your rental company whether cross-border driving is allowed — most large rental companies permit it, sometimes with advance notice or a surcharge. Keep the border crossing itself calm: fresh vegetables, fruit and meat often can't come along and the RV may be searched. Put the border crossing on a quiet day with few kilometres in your route, because waiting times at busy crossings grow in summer.

Passport and driving licence: what to bring

Your passport must in any case be valid for the entire stay; the Netherlands and Belgium are among the countries for which the US does not require six months' extra validity, and neither does Canada. Still, we recommend a generous margin: a passport that expires shortly after your return causes hassle with rebookings or an unexpected extension. Renewal takes weeks in the Netherlands and Belgium, so do this check first, for the whole group.

There's a lot of confusion about driving licences, so here's the nuance. A valid Dutch or Belgian category B licence is accepted in the United States and Canada for tourists renting an RV, and for the usual rental RVs you don't need a heavier licence. An international driving permit is usually not required — rental companies rarely ask for it, and it isn't a licence in itself but an official translation of yours.

The international driving permit is useful in two situations: at a police check in a state or province where the officer doesn't recognise a European licence, and if your rental company explicitly asks for it. In the Netherlands you apply through the ANWB, in Belgium through your municipality. It's cheap and quickly arranged, so our recommendation: bring it, but don't expect to need it. Bring your own licence in any case — the international one is only valid together with it.

Travel and cancellation insurance versus RV insurance

These are three different policies that travellers regularly mix up. RV insurance comes with the rental and covers damage to the RV and liability towards third parties; you arrange it with the rental company or through your agent, with an excess you can buy down. It does not cover your luggage, your medical costs or the case where you have to cancel the trip.

Travel insurance with worldwide cover pays for medical costs, luggage, repatriation and assistance on the road. Check that the US and Canada are included — with many annual travel policies, worldwide cover is a separate module — and that the medical cover is unlimited or high enough. Cancellation insurance reimburses the trip cost if you have to cancel before departure or cut the trip short; with flights, RV and hotels paid up front, that is no small sum on an RV trip.

Two pitfalls. One: the excess cover on a regular travel policy usually applies to rental cars, not automatically to RVs — read the policy or ask. Two: take out cancellation insurance right after your first booking, because most policies require you to arrange it within a few days of the first payment. If you wait until the trip is complete, you're often too late.

Credit card, deposit and medical costs

The main driver needs a real credit card in their own name, not a debit or prepaid card. At pickup the rental company places a deposit hold on that card, released only after return, and the card is used for extra miles, damage or additional charges. Check your limit before departure: the deposit plus everyday travel spending on the same card adds up quickly. A second card for daily payments is no unnecessary luxury.

Medical care in the United States is expensive and billed at rates far above Dutch and Belgian ones. Dutch basic health insurance reimburses abroad at most up to the Dutch rate; the Belgian mutualiteit covers little to nothing outside Europe. The gap in between is exactly what the medical module of your travel insurance fills — check that it is in order for every traveller, children included.

Bring an English-language overview of any medication you use, with the generic names, and keep medicines in their original packaging. Save your insurer's emergency number in your phone and in the trip plan, so your travel companions can find it if you can't. For the children it's handy to carry a digital copy of their health insurance card and vaccination record — not because anyone in America will ask for it, but because you'll have the details to hand at an unexpected doctor's visit.

Everything on one list, for the whole group

The tricky part of this paperwork isn't any one document, but that there are six of them for four people, with different expiry dates. So make one list per traveller: passport valid until, ESTA or eTA applied for and approved, driving licence, international driving permit, credit card, insurance policies with emergency numbers. Put the ESTA or eTA application on the calendar as the first task as soon as the flights and the first hotel are in place.

In the Kamptribe planner you can keep this under your travel companions and tasks, so everyone sees what's still open and nobody discovers at the airport that their authorisation is missing. Four weeks before departure, go through the list once more on the official sites, because these rules in particular change from time to time — and then the trip starts with peace of mind instead of an empty stomach at the gate.