Zinfan

Driving from Niagara to Lewiston NY

Tangram

Sorry I wasn't sure what "cruising" was referring to.... either on a boat or gay curb crawling. Therefore wondered if you weren't flying or driving, how you proposed to cross.... tunneling perhaps.

Zinfan

Good point mate. I wish I could tunnel my way in. I could bring back a pile of wine without paying the 80% duty the nasty Canadian border guards charge me.

CanadaJimmy

Huh. Well I haven't done it myself but I've heard of other people who have and they didn't have to fill out that card. My girlfriend's father is Italian with PR, he did the ESTA form online and all he had to do was the fingerprint scanning part when he got to the border. Perhaps it just depends on the IO, seems kind of ridiculous since the ESTA is the exact same questions as the I94W.

G77

Windsor takes 30mins (weekday) to 90 mins (busy weekend) to get the I94w done - average for us is around 1 hr

They will accept ESTA, but only if said person has previously flown into the US and has a stamp in their passport to prove it...

Zinfan

It seems like every border entry has different interpretations. All the more reason to get my Canadian citizenship I guess.

Steve_

Aha, I've never flown into the US on ESTA. I enrolled in it because I had to, CBP told me at YYC that Canadian airlines haven't bothered to enroll and aren't required to so they still use the I-94W forms. So maybe it is the case that if you have arrived in the US on a carrier that uses ESTA that makes some sort of difference.

However I do recall the supervisor at Sweet Grass saying to me they had no access to ESTA, so even if the carrier was enrolled he would still ask bus passengers to fill in I-94Ws if they were on the VWP. He did say their IT system was being upgraded so maybe they would have access to ESTA then, but it seemed to be more of a case of the bus companies signing up.

Anyway, this whole conversation is reminding me why I got a visa. I will never use ESTA or the VWP again.

Zinfan

Thanks Steve, I haven't looked at getting a visa. Might be worth doing.
Cheers

Zoe Bell

Just a word of caution on the visa thing , general consensus on the us boards s that if you are eligible for ESTA / VWP then you are unlikely to be granted a b visa unless you are retired.

Once you have been refused you then have to declare that on your ESTA application.

Hop over to the us boards for more info.

Zinfan

Ouch, why does everything have to be so bloody complicated?
Thanks for the tip

Zoe Bell

really it isn't
fill in the esta online ( good for 2 years) in case you ever want to travel into the states by plane

if you weant to travel by road , make sure you leave planty of time and have 6 bucks ready.

We've crossed the border many times , by road and air. Some lines ups , never more than a few cursory questions

Zinfan

Zoe, as it turns out we crossed over, waited forty five minutes for first inspection. Passport were taken and into immigration we went. Done in ten minutes! Very polite, even cracked a joke with the officer.
Cheers

Steve_

Not if you're applying from Canada as a Canadian LPR. I didn't have a problem getting a B-1/2 visa here. I get the impression that the State Dept. has advised consulates in VWP countries not to issue visas to people who can use ESTA, but Canada is not a VWP country.

Your experience may vary of course and it is a hassle to get a visa, but I did apply here and they did grant it.

I do get some "I'm surprised they granted it" comments from CBP when they see I have a visa in my passport, I guess I'm just that trustworthy.

Steve_

The quickest I've gotten through by land is twenty minutes, starting from when I got sent to secondary. Longest is two hours fifty minutes.

Bob

But you're still a Brit, with UK citizenship, who can use the VWP, so the point that getting a B2 being rare still stands. Doesn't matter where it was applied for.

Unless you've also got Canadian citizenship.