AOGT

Hi all,

I'm coming to the end of my IEC in BC, had a great time and I've done the thing of meeting a great Quebecois girl. I have to leave in June so we're going to the UK together for a few weeks, then returning to BC and driving across North America together to meet her family in Montreal.

Before I start: I have a class 4 driving licence and am over 25. She is just about to get her first licence, and we are planning on me doing 80% of the drive. We're driving from Vancouver to Montreal via Jasper, Yellowstone, Chicago, New York and Cape Bretton in Nova Scotia, plus a million places inbetween. Most of the journey is in the US once we cross the border in Alberta. 11,000km in total over 5 weeks, staying with friends, family, airbnbs, coughsurfing, camping and in the car. Should be incredible.

BUT - questions questions questions...

1. Buying a car. We've looked into renting/buying. A one-way trip makes the rental idea expensive due to drop-off fees ($1000!) so we're going to buy a used mini-van from Craigslist with the help of my current roommate here in BC who is a mechanic and can give it all a once over to check it (being very aware of the potential pitfalls of CL). We'll strip out the back and make a bed, we're prepared to make a loss on the vehicle if needs be and only be able to scrap it in Montreal. We know a bit about the inter-province tax on vehicles but my girl will be the registered owner and she will sell it to her dad in Montreal which *apparently* gets around a tax issue).

What confuses me though is the process of buying a vehicle out here in BC. We find a car, like it, use CarProof (or similar) to check its history and maybe buy it. Then with the current owner we take the registration documents to a broker and pay the 12% tax on the purchase (we're going to be buying from an individual, not a dealer). Then, insurance - ICBC is a monopoly on car insurance here in BC, so I don't really have a choice but to go with them, right? We were thinking of getting the temporary insurance just so I can drive it home to where we're leaving it while we build a bed etc and fit it out. So, what insurance is needed if it is not actually being driven and is just parked underground? And what tax? (i.e., the BC version of the UK SORN?).


2. The borders. When I return to BC from the UK I'll be on a tourist visa. I can show evidence of my plans to leave from Montreal so Canada will give me a visitors visa up until that day, right? (about 10 weeks from when I re-enter). We then drive to the US, show details of our plans and evidence to leave, and get the typical 90-day visitors card to the US. Re-enter Canada on the east coast with the same visitor's visa I acquired in BC. Any thoughts or potential problems with this?


3. Driving in the US - I'm hoping that I won't require any special driving licence, tax, insurance etc to be driving on both sides of the border, other than visa requirements. Is this true?


4. General advice. Has anyone on here done anything similar to what I've outlined above? If so, can you think of anything I haven't yet considered?


Re-reading this before posting it seems like an essay. Sorry. I've been as brief as possible but it's a complex setup. I would grateful to just be pointed in the direction of sage advice elsewhere, but I thought I would ask for advice here first.

Thanks in anticipation

Ontheroadoflife

Hate to say this...you have a very good chance of A: being refused entry to the US. your driving a junker, sad but true, you are young, you won't even at that time have a visa that establishes your right to reside in Canada, at the very least expect to be held up while they give you a VERY good check for drug smuggling etc and i MIGHT be wrong but i was under the impression that once you leave Canada once you attempt re-entry you are re-assessed for entry, and your visa is null and void.

B: being denied entry back to Canada as you are driving a Canadian junker car, on a Canadian license, with a Canadian girlfriend sitting in the seat beside you, with a just expired visa in your passport, the IEC, no real current ties to the UK, someone who knows a lot more than me (lay-person) will i'm sure correct me if i'm wrong but i would say regardless of what tickets you show...if i was that border guard i would certainly be checking you out more carefully than most as with all that, the idea of "over-stay" must be going through my mind. I know it's not, but the perception is there.

Apologies in advance if im talking out of my hat, but i'm in dad mode and sucking on my pipe as i speak

Shirtback

Ditto, but replace "dad mode" with "mum mode"

My ex & my son (& various of his acquaintances) have done this sort of trip multiple times in reverse/both ways, BUT the youngsters tend to stick to routes on the CDN side of the border. Especially if there are IEC-ers/youngsters with visitor status in the "group".

Former Lancastrian

If deciding to do this this is what I would be doing

Showing ties to the UK i.e. rent/mortgage agreement, job offer or job details in the UK, return ticket back to the UK, bank statement from the UK
On arriving in Canada asking CBSA for a visitor record as opposed to just the entry stamp
Carrying copies of said documents when travelling and crossing the border.
Occasionally you will find ads where they need someone to drop off vehicles and drive them across the country. No idea if you would find a BC to Quebec one though.

dbd33

The snag with that is that you have very limited time to make the delivery, you can't stop to look at things along the way.

My daughter and her then associate bought an old police car and drove it from Toronto to New Orleans, across the bottom of the US and up to Alaska. They had the advantage of US/Canadian passports and dealt with the usual problem of not being able to obtain insurance without having a permanent address by not insuring the car; there's some risk in that but it's the only reasonable cost option.

AOGT

Thanks everyone for the replies, I appreciate the input.

Re the re-entry into Canada issue, I will be able to show evidence that I have a flight booked to New Zealand one month after I re-enter Canada on the east coat. I came to Canada as a tourist before and they asked me lots of questions at the border - I provided proof of my intended exit (booked flight) and that was that. Hope it's not naivety on my part with all of this.

I am not intending to go back to the UK after the road trip - I've lived in BC for 2 years, now it's the planned road trip then a flight to NZ to do their equivalent of the IEC for a year. So, coming back to Canada initially I will show full evidence of the plans. I am aware that the border will involve a LOT of questions, and I appreciate the concern expressed here. I can answer all the queries and jump when they say jump, although I am now a bit worried about it all.

We will also not be driving a junk car, it'll be a relatively new vehicle (not a rusted chunk of metal). Age-wise I'll be 30 so surely the age factor would be diminished? I can show evidence of booking places all along the route as evidence for the trip. Drug checking would be fine, no intention or habit of anything like that.

Thanks for the idea of doing a 'drop-off' vehicle, we've looked into it but they all want you to drive quick and get there ASAP which is not our plan.

Steve_

Yeah the key point as FL points out you must have proof of non-immigrant intent on you, the more the better. Demonstrate you are going to be leaving to a third country. CBP are supposed to check you have the ability to reside in Canada if you say you live in Canada, btw.

Having the Canadian gf with you isn't going to help and saying that you're then off to a fourth country also raises suspicions because it sounds as though you lack a fixed abode.

The law in both countries requires: "having a residence in a foreign country which he has no intention of abandoning" - and it doesn't sound as though you do as you have no residence in the US, you're leaving your residence in Canada and have yet to establish one in New Zealand.

Ontheroadoflife

+1 to Steve, I really think your going to have problems.

JamesM

Jeesh.

This'll be the last time a young man posts his dream on this forum.

You really should just drive across Canada with a view to visiting each Tim Horton's enroute.

Oakvillian

I think everyone's making out this is much more of a big deal than it really is.

With a return (or onward) ticket from Montreal in your possession, there's no earthly reason why Canada shouldn't let you in at YVR. So that part of the equation's easy, and if for any reason the Americans don't play nice, you can always just change your route planning and skip Chicago/NYC and take the long way round across the top of the Great Lakes. Boring as hell drive, but possible.

Another option might be to break your journey back to Canada from the UK and take a couple of days in the States. If you can get a 90-day I94W at that point, then there's no reason even to be hauled into secondary inspection when you cross the land border, just a smile and a wave at the guy in the booth should suffice so long as you still have enough time on the waiver. Tell them you're on a road trip to Montreal, show them your onward ticket from Canada if they ask, there's no reason for them not to let you in as a tourist.

[Except, on reflection, you don't get a green I94W any more for air travel to the US, there's the ESTA for that. Does that apply to UK-originating passengers too, or is the lack of a green form for visa-waiver citizens part of some Canada-US agreement?]

Steve_

You don't get physical I-94s at airports anymore, you have to go to the website and print it off.

CBSA and CBP linked their entry systems last year and even earlier than that for third country nationals, so trying to hoodwink them at the border isn't going to work, they're not going to care about a pre-existing I-94 and they don't need to send you to secondary anymore, all the information is available at primary inspection. CBP can see all of your entries and exits to Canada going back a couple of years as a British citizen. And also there is the new Canadian equivalent to ESTA which comes into force in April. Called CeTA I think.

There's no way to bullshit it.

Former Lancastrian

Even with a valid ESTA for flying if crossing by a land border they will still need to pay $6 for another I94 valid for 90 days. the ESTA just makes it easier for CBP to do the I94.
Will the OP have problems who knows? Every time a person leaves the country and re-enters its classified as a new entry and the person is subject to all checks even with valid ESTA's, work permits etc etc.
The OP will make a final decision as to what they do.

AOGT

Thanks all for the input, again. Lots of ifs and buts and maybes... Gotta admit though, reading some of the posts here has made me pretty nervous about it all. It's still going to be done, regardless, and if it does all go up the proverbial creek then we can just stay on the Canadian side of the border for the duration (not Plan A as my gf has already gone across Canada once and doesn't want to do a purely Canadian crossing again if she can help it).

In answer to some of the points raised:

I can show evidence that I still have a life in the UK, when I'm home I can get bank statements and letters from the student loan company to show I am still connected there and ordinarily resident (my "fixed abode") there with an intention to return. Reckon this would help?

Re visitor record, how would this help? I will take your advice (thanks!) but wondering what difference this may make?

I'm intending on carrying documents which show evidence of booking hostels and other places on both sides of the border. This, along with a ticket from Montreal to NZ, will hopefully assist.

I'm going to be able to evidence every step of the trip at all 3 border crossings (YVR, into the US and back into Canada). I know it may come down to how well I can persuade the border folks that I have intentions to leave, but are there any other suggestions for other documentation I could provide? Or evidence?

AOGT

Keep the thoughts coming though people, I really do appreciate all the input

AOGT

Hi, sorry to bump this from old but I wanted to say that despite a lot of the concerns noted in this thread, I've just finished the trip and had zero issues whatsoever at any border. Maybe I got lucky (I had evidence of my permanent residence in the UK like a recent verified bank statement and a copy of my most recent student loans letter). But still, if anyone is planning to do a road trip, go with optimism.

We did 12,325km in 35 days in a car we bought for $2000 CAD, hitting 20 states and 6 provinces. Pacific to Atlantic. Great fun.