Christopher

Greets,

Im a Canadian citizen and I recently got refused at the border for a
vacation/business trip. It was quite a devastating experience. I NEVER had any
problems at any U.S port of entry, mainly cause I look young and harmless

About 4 years ago exactly, I got convicted of a Breaking and Entering. It was a bad
judgement on my part and I never saw myself as a criminal...I guess we can never say
"never say never" huh?

Anyway, it was really a downer for me to find out that I had been slapped with a
criminal record. I was thinking about my future and asking myself if I was going to
get harrassed on if I can get a job in the long term (4-5 years). Well, as it turns
out, I have my own company right now, and I have been solo for about 3 years till
now. Business is somewhat good. The least of my worries are about a job right now
despite having a criminal record.

The thing that bothers me today is travelling to the USA.

I was very cooperative when the customs agent asked me WHAT I was going to the USA
for. I told them that it was for part business and part personal. Now, looking back
at when WHY I got refused, I can easily say that it's because I said that I was going
for business and I didnt have the right credentials to begin with. THAT'S what spaked
the whole investigation on me. The agent then told me that I was refused and I needed
to fill out the I-192 FORM and I should contact the local fingerprinting, courts, etc
etc. No problem, I moved on the application process...

All that is done right now. I sent my fingerprints about 3 days after I got the
refusal at the border. I recently got my official court records and now Im waiting on
the fingerprints from the RCMP. After that, it's pretty much easy to get it going on
for this waiver.

Now my REAL question/point is :

When I got stopped at the border, the agent asked me WHAT I was going there for and
what and where, etc etc. I totally cooperated and was completely honest....even when
she asked me if I have had a criminal record. Now that he has all this information,
Im asking myself if they have all my "testimony" on file on their computers or
whatever (I did mention that I was going there on business). Im thinking about going
back there as SOON as I get my US Visa Entry Waiver. This time, I KNOW that I'll be
going there for personal reasons, but will they harass me cuz Im going to the same
place with the same plane ticket (its still valid for a year) ? Will my past
information of when I got stopped at the border + my testimony be on their computers
at the time of entry?

I just want to make sure Im doing the right thing here. I even made a couple of long
distance calls and checked out some pretty useful websites to make sure that what I
am doing is the right thing. I have nothing to hide, I just want to make this legit.

Also, Im in Montreal, is there anyone from there that got a Visa Entry Waiver? If so,
how long did it really take? And are there any alternatives to make it a shorter wait
once I have all my documents ready?

Sorry for the long post by the way, I hope someone can help me out.

Thanks in advance,

C

Edward Saelens

I can understand your delima , a few years ago i tried crossing the border at Blaine
Wash . i was on Probation at the time for a public mischief charge, and was dennined
entry in to the Usa but i was only planning on visting my internet girlfrind in
seattle at the time for a weekend . If you are familar with the Canada USa Border at
Blaine wash there are two points of entry and a golf course between them. I simply
walked back into canada walked down and jumped the fence of the golf course and
walked iinto the town of Blaine wash were i caught the next greyhound bus to seattle.
We shouldn't let the USA Customs stop us from our freedoms ... "Christopher"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Greets,
    >
    > Im a Canadian citizen and I recently got refused at the border for a
    > vacation/business trip. It was quite a devastating experience. I NEVER had any
    > problems at any U.S port of entry, mainly cause I look young and harmless
    >
    > About 4 years ago exactly, I got convicted of a Breaking and Entering. It was a bad
    > judgement on my part and I never saw myself as a criminal...I guess we can never
    > say "never say never" huh?
    >
    > Anyway, it was really a downer for me to find out that I had been slapped with a
    > criminal record. I was thinking about my future and asking myself if I was going to
    > get harrassed on if I can get a job in the long term (4-5 years). Well, as it turns
    > out, I have my own company right now, and I have been solo for about 3 years till
    > now. Business is somewhat good. The least of my worries are about a job right now
    > despite having a criminal record.
    >
    > The thing that bothers me today is travelling to the USA.
    >
    > I was very cooperative when the customs agent asked me WHAT I was going to the USA
    > for. I told them that it was for part business and part personal. Now, looking back
    > at when WHY I got refused, I can easily say that it's because I said that I was
    > going for business and I didnt have the right credentials to begin with. THAT'S
    > what spaked the whole investigation on me. The agent then told me that I was
    > refused and I needed to fill out the I-192 FORM and I should contact the local
    > fingerprinting, courts, etc etc. No problem, I moved on the application process...
    >
    > All that is done right now. I sent my fingerprints about 3 days after I got the
    > refusal at the border. I recently got my official court records and now Im waiting
    > on the fingerprints from the RCMP. After that, it's pretty much easy to get it
    > going on for this waiver.
    >
    > Now my REAL question/point is :
    >
    > When I got stopped at the border, the agent asked me WHAT I was going there for and
    > what and where, etc etc. I totally cooperated and was completely honest....even
    > when she asked me if I have had a criminal record. Now that he has all this
    > information, Im asking myself if they have all my "testimony" on file on their
    > computers or whatever (I did mention that I was going there on business). Im
    > thinking about going back there as SOON as I get my US Visa Entry Waiver. This
    > time, I KNOW that I'll be going there for personal reasons, but will they harass me
    > cuz Im going to the same place with the same plane ticket (its still valid for a
    > year) ? Will my past information of when I got stopped at the border + my testimony
    > be on their computers at the time of entry?
    >
    > I just want to make sure Im doing the right thing here. I even made a couple of
    > long distance calls and checked out some pretty useful websites to make sure that
    > what I am doing is the right thing. I have nothing to hide, I just want to make
    > this legit.
    >
    > Also, Im in Montreal, is there anyone from there that got a Visa Entry Waiver? If
    > so, how long did it really take? And are there any alternatives to make it a
    > shorter wait once I have all my documents ready?
    >
    > Sorry for the long post by the way, I hope someone can help me out.
    >
    > Thanks in advance,
    >
    > C

Jay

Hahahahaha! Your post has really made me laugh. "edward saelens"
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > I can understand your delima , a few years ago i tried crossing the border at
    > Blaine Wash . i was on Probation at the time for a public mischief charge, and was
    > dennined entry in to the Usa but i was only planning on visting my internet
    > girlfrind in seattle at the time for a weekend . If
you
    > are familar with the Canada USa Border at Blaine wash there are two points of entry
    > and a golf course between them. I simply walked back into canada walked down and
    > jumped the fence of the golf course and walked iinto the town of Blaine wash were i
    > caught the next greyhound bus to seattle. We shouldn't let the USA Customs stop us
    > from our freedoms ... "Christopher" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    > news:[email protected]...
    > > Greets,
    > >
    > > Im a Canadian citizen and I recently got refused at the border for a
    > > vacation/business trip. It was quite a devastating experience. I NEVER had any
    > > problems at any U.S port of entry, mainly cause I look young and harmless
    > >
    > > About 4 years ago exactly, I got convicted of a Breaking and Entering. It was a
    > > bad judgement on my part and I never saw myself as a criminal...I guess we can
    > > never say "never say never" huh?
    > >
    > > Anyway, it was really a downer for me to find out that I had been slapped with a
    > > criminal record. I was thinking about my future and asking myself if I was going
    > > to get harrassed on if I can get a job in the long term (4-5 years). Well, as it
    > > turns out, I have my own company right now, and I have been solo for about 3
    > > years till now. Business is somewhat good. The least of my worries are about a
    > > job right now despite having a criminal record.
    > >
    > > The thing that bothers me today is travelling to the USA.
    > >
    > > I was very cooperative when the customs agent asked me WHAT I was going to the
    > > USA for. I told them that it was for part business and part personal. Now,
    > > looking back at when WHY I got refused, I can easily say that it's because I said
    > > that I was going for business and I didnt have the right credentials to begin
    > > with. THAT'S what spaked the whole investigation on me. The agent then told me
    > > that I was refused and I needed to fill out the I-192 FORM and I should contact
    > > the local fingerprinting, courts, etc etc. No problem, I moved on the application
    > > process...
    > >
    > > All that is done right now. I sent my fingerprints about 3 days after I got the
    > > refusal at the border. I recently got my official court records and now Im
    > > waiting on the fingerprints from the RCMP. After that, it's pretty much easy to
    > > get it going on for this waiver.
    > >
    > > Now my REAL question/point is :
    > >
    > > When I got stopped at the border, the agent asked me WHAT I was going there for
    > > and what and where, etc etc. I totally cooperated and was completely
    > > honest....even when she asked me if I have had a criminal record. Now that he has
    > > all this information, Im asking myself if they have all my "testimony" on file on
    > > their computers or whatever (I did mention that I was going there on business).
    > > Im thinking about going back there as SOON as I get my US Visa Entry Waiver. This
    > > time, I KNOW that I'll be going there for personal reasons, but will they harass
    > > me cuz Im going to the same place with the same plane ticket (its still valid for
    > > a year) ? Will my past information of when I got stopped at the border + my
    > > testimony be on their computers at the time of entry?
    > >
    > > I just want to make sure Im doing the right thing here. I even made a couple of
    > > long distance calls and checked out some pretty useful websites to make sure that
    > > what I am doing is the right thing. I have nothing to hide, I just want to make
    > > this legit.
    > >
    > > Also, Im in Montreal, is there anyone from there that got a Visa Entry Waiver? If
    > > so, how long did it really take? And are there any alternatives to make it a
    > > shorter wait once I have all my documents ready?
    > >
    > > Sorry for the long post by the way, I hope someone can help me out.
    > >
    > > Thanks in advance,
    > >
    > > C

Christopher

Well, that is not my idea of crossing the border. I mean, I know that Im responsible
for what I did back in 98 but I wouldnt run across a border like mexicans do in
packs. I'd rather follow the rules.

"edward saelens" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected] >...
    > I can understand your delima , a few years ago i tried crossing the border at
    > Blaine Wash . i was on Probation at the time for a public mischief charge, and was
    > dennined entry in to the Usa but i was only planning on visting my internet
    > girlfrind in seattle at the time for a weekend . If you are familar with the Canada
    > USa Border at Blaine wash there are two points of entry and a golf course between
    > them. I simply walked back into canada walked down and jumped the fence of the golf
    > course and walked iinto the town of Blaine wash were i caught the next greyhound
    > bus to seattle. We shouldn't let the USA Customs stop us from our freedoms ...