R I C H

I always tick the 'yes' box, which is what I was told to do by the official I dealt with, as their system will flag me as having been formally rejected previously, so no sense in trying to cover it up.

MrWindUpBird

It was for me. I initially parked up on the Canadian side, walked into the office and was told to go to the US border and get the paperwork from them.

I would think most/all of the crossings have a way to turn back before crossing the border, for people who change their mind/take a wrong turn.

Steve_

Having a NEXUS card doesn't avoid the I-94W requirement, you still have to go to secondary inspection and go through US-VISIT. It's based on your citizenship, not your residency. It makes it easier to get back into Canada but it doesn't help much with visiting the US. If you're Canadian it does though.

Steve_

A NEXUS card won't help you, but getting a B-1/2 visa probably would. But frankly it doesn't matter whether you've been denied or not, if you need an I-94 they're always going to send you to secondary at a land border.

The advantage of having a visa is that they swipe the visa so you don't have to manually fill in the I-94.

Really the best solution is to apply for Canadian citizenship when you can.

Former Lancastrian

The reason why paperwork is issued is so there is no bounce back by the other country when refused in the other.
Say a person is trying to enter either the US or Canada using the land border it is obvious that they have just left one of those countries. If paperwork is issued by the refusing country then the other country are legally obliged to accept the person back. So if a person left Canada and was refused entry into the US and was not issued any paperwork then if that person was found inadmissible back into Canada we could refuse that person and the US would have to take them back.
IMHO doing a flagpole to the US and doing a U turn without reporting to the US CBP has a risk to it. Not something I would do. A Canadian citizen or PR would probably get away with it but a foreign national flagpoling for whatever reason is not something I recommend.
There is a difference between an Administrative Refusal for flagpoling purposes and a straight out refusal for other reasons. IIRC the US notate that it was for a flagpole situation as opposed to being refused for the other reasons.

Nik G

Its seems to me that unless there is a really big reason you can't do it then you should just go into the states for a valid reason and complete whatever canadian paperwork you need to on the way back.

At least thats what I plan to do and avoid the chance of any confusion.

wolstie

But when it comes to flagpoling, I don't need to present a refusal to Canadian immigration do I?

I.e, is it enough for me to nip over to the States, do a bit of shopping and activate PR on way back in? Would I be asked for formal paperwork issued by US CBP?

Former Lancastrian

No you dont because you have not been refused entry if you were allowed into shop. Most flagpolers do this rather than just turn around and not enter the US.

JonboyE

It makes sense. AFAIK they shouldn't be a problem with the administrative refusal as long as the CBP officer enters it correctly into their system. The problem seems to occur when the CBP officer doesn't mark the refusal as just for flagpoling purposes. Then it becomes an issue whenever someone seeks entry into the US for legitimate reasons. R I C H is not the only poster to report continuing problems.

Steve_

Make a complaint to DHS-TRIP, it sounds as though Rich has already done that but you can make the complaint more effective if you get a copy of your entry record by filing a G-639 Privacy Act request with CBP. Supposedly you can just send them a letter with the relevant info but if you do they send back a G-639 so you may as well start there.

Once you get your entry record, make a copy, highlight the relevant bits you think are wrong with an explanation, then make your DHS-TRIP complaint. I think you have to get the redress number first and then fax it to them, been awhile since I did it.

CanAngel

when we flagpoled, we did just that as we were a bit confused. Never went to the US border, just turned around and went to the Canadian border. The immigration officer did ask for the refusal letter, we said we didn't have one, should we have gone to the border? He said that's what's normally done but he didn't really need one. We had COPR and all the required paperwork so no reason to refuse us entry into Canada.

wolstie

Hi, as you are in Ottawa, did you do this at Prescott or Cornwall?

dbd33

I'm baffled by flagpoling. If you're admissable to the US, just go to the US, the worst that will happen is that they'll sell you some cheap cheese.

Risking confusion of administrative refusal and actual refusal with hideous consequences for the rest of your life all for the sake of saving six bucks seems bonkers to me.

CanAngel

We flagpoled in Prescott on a Thursday afternoon, no wait at all, just a couple of cars in front of us.

Steve_

Depends where you cross, for example at Sweet Grass it is a long drive to go to the shops, 120 miles. I've sat in secondary inspection and watched people flagpole there. Also, same day crossings with an I-94 seem to cause CBP confusion as you can't put an address down where you're staying. I had to give them the address of a supermarket once, it was crazy.