Flagpole Question?
 

For those who were already in Canada when they got the PR visa what is the flagpole procedure, as I'm confused.

I spoke to North Portal boarder in Canada about flag poling and they said that the US would refuse me entry and that could lead to me not being able to travel to the states in the future. Anyone else know anything about this?

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

Hi there
I've heard quite a few negative things about flag poling and that specifically the US make things really hard for people crossing just to activate PR's or permits etc. we will need to leave ontario before Sept 10 so will need to do the same thing! I will be watching your post with interest :thumbup:
good luck
Colette ;)

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

There is a procedure where you arrive at the US border and say that you are flag polling. They may chose to photograph and fingerprint you for their records. They give you a bit of paper that says you have been denied entry to the US. You then head back up to the Canadian side of the border and, as you have physically left Canadian soil, you can have your PR processed.

Officially, this is not considered as a refusal to enter the US for US immigration purposes, and so it should not prevent you from traveling to the US in the future. Some people are concerned that the US may change its policies in the future and having been denied entry in this way may be detrimental.

To avoid this why not combine the flag polling with a legitimate trip to the US? Take a day (or two) trip to a tourist site, or shopping mall, then "land" on your way home.

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

It's not really possible to go shopping for a day or two as my wife and mother-in-law don't have passports. Also were currently we're living in the middle of nowhere where transit doesn't go through so flagpole is only option really.

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

Hi there.

If you are already in Canada - Where is your local Services Canada? Here in BC you do not 'have' to leave the county to land. I wonder if they do that in your nearest SC???

You can make an appointment with SC and they can stamp/land you there. (Honest truth!)

We didn't do this even though we knew we could - we actually went to the Ferry port in Victoria, went across to Port Angeles, got off the Ferry, went through the terminal and joined the queue to get back on. We were going to stay for Crabfest but realised if we took the later ferry we'd be back very late and we had dinner plans that night.

Instead we took a trip across the waters, saw Humpback whales and got some nice pictures - had a few hours of fresh air and then landed!

When we first got to the officers they asked where we were visiting in the US - we told them we were not staying there but would be back pretty sharpish. They said you 'have' to have an address you are visiting so we explained that we were just leaving to "arrive". Another officer said "ah they are flagpoling" and they just automatically started filling in stuff and gave us the address of a local park right next to the Port Angeles ferry terminal, to use on the green cards you need to fill in (sorry it escapes me what these were). They took our picture, fingerprinted us gave us our passports back and let us on the ferry. They were not negative that we were doing it, they didn't get annoyed or anything. Only thing they said was "get here earlier next time as you've held the boat up" - (although this wouldn't have mattered as we were in the queue (well it was more like a mass towards an open door! and being polite I didn't want to shove!).

Anyway - if you can do it via Canada Services then no need to worry about the officers at all! :thumbsup:

(Also on the way back into Canada (Victoria) the Immi officer was lovely, took her all of 10 mins to check us all out, called us in, signed the papers, asked us a few questions about England and how she once got stuck in Port Angeles and it was the worse night of her life - shook our hands and welcomed us to Canada).

Very positive - very happy :)

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

You don't have to flagpole at the border. You can fly into the US for a break somewhere and fly back.

Can't your wife and mother-in-law apply for passports?

It is possible for you to take a trip to the USA alone, as far as I know, unless there are special rules for spousal immigrants.

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

We're currently in Saskatchewan and Regina is the closest and that is 3hours away, need to look into an appointment but was told prob around a months wait.

When I spoke to the help line they said they may need to speak to my wife, so we don't want to risk that.

We need to get this sorted asap as I need to be able to work again, money ran out so can't afford a trip into the US and living with the in-laws is a little frustrating. Sooner this is over the better.

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

Why not research somewhere you can visit in North Dakota?
https://www.ndtourism.com/whatdo/attractions/

Re: Flagpole Question?
 

Hi

You should note that Service Canada offices DON"T process Immigrants, it has to be a CIC office.