Vikty

So we landed as PR's today. We don't have a car so went by public transit. We live in Burnaby, got the skytrain to Surrey Central, then the 321 bus to Whiterock, then a taxi to Peace Arch.

The pedestrian sidewalk was closed due to construction, so had to walk up by the cars to get to USA border control. The USA border people were a bit shocked that we were on foot, first they asked where our car was, then they asked who dropped us off, when we said a taxi they looked a bit miffed but then directed us to the border control building.

We got to the counter and told them we were flagpoling, they asked us a few questions, e.g. have we ever been to the USA before, we said no, they then asked us why we'd never been to the USA before??????? Then they gave us a refusal of entry to the USA form and sent us off on our way.

We went back to Canadian border control got our stamps, the immigration lady gave our daughter a Canadian flag and congratulated us on our PR.

The cost of our journey was $40.00 in total, $10.00 on skytrain / bus and $30.00 on taxis.

Thought this post might be informative for anyone wanting to flagpole on public transit from Burnaby or Vancouver.

raymasa

Interesting experience, thanks for posting and congratulations in landing.

How come they didn't give me a flag when I landed....

Ray

japanada

First of all congratulations on activating your PR. I was wondering what you meant by "refusal of entry to the USA form", I thought it was bad to be refused entry into any country.

How long did your whole journey take on a Saturday?

Vikty

It was an hour and a half traveling, 5 minute que USA side, took about 5 mins to get the refusal of entry, I'm not sure why we needed the refusal of entry, we told them we were flagpoling and they said we just needed some paper work, the paper work was the refusal of entry form.

Then on the Canadian side it took about 10 mins of form filling, thankfully there was no que at that end.

JAJ

And a black mark on your immigration record.

Lethe

I asked about flagpoling the last (fateful) time we crossed the border, the immigration officer there said it happens often and the refusal of entry is not stamped into your passport but entered in the system as an 'administrative refusal' which doesn't have any negative effect on your immigration record. Is that wrong? When I get PR I'm hoping to do the same thing!

fledermaus

Congrats on landing.

I'm curious though wondering why you took public transit rather than hire a car? Does anyone know if you can land by train? ie take a train ride into the USA and back. I don't know how the border thing works on trains and suppose you have to get off and lineup so maybe the train won't wait?

When we landed it was terrible weather and it had taken us twice as long to get to the border so we explained all this to the USA people, saying that we were disappointed that we would not be able to visit the US for the day but as the snow was still falling would it be possible for us to turn around without being refused entry. They were really helpful and said we could complete the visa waiver forms and return straight away.

Anyway, congrats on the flag. After all those helpful USA people we didn't even get a 'welcome to Canada' from the Canadian immigration people

Manek

On one of my recent query someone replied that they were administratively refused at Cornwall (land border) and believed that its just part of procedure without any impact on immigration history. But later on their next visit to US by air, their record came up and faced long queries by US immigration.

Vikty

When OH tried to swap his drivers license over he was told he'd have to wait until we had activated our PR. He's been here longer than 3 months too. I don't drive. So we couldn't rent a car.

We considered getting a train and just spending the day in the states, but it was a bit too pricey (we're saving for a car at the moment ), we went for the cheap option instead.

I'm not really worried about the refusal of entry. The officer wrote flapole on the refusal of entry form, I imagine he'd have noted it in the computer system too.

Every one we spoke to at the border knew what flagpoling was. No one seemed to think it was a big deal, as they put it we just needed some paperwork then we could be on our way.

fledermaus

Thanks for replying, congratulations again.

amrskipro

Probablu not true - I flag poled at the truck crossing last May (faster than the peace arch) - walked across as I could not be bothered with the car queue. Filled in the piece of paper for the Americans and was entered as 'administrative for Canadian work permit' for reasons not entering the USA.

Travelled to the US last Oct for a conference and it did not even come up in conversation with the US IO at point of entry (Chicago - admittedly not the most aggressive US entry port I have ever been too - JFK and Orlando are the worst).

Given that flag poling is a well established means of activating work permits/ study permits for foreigners in adn visiting Canada etc I am betting that there are thousands of us with 'refused entry' on the US Immigration system with a note stating that it was for Canadian entry/ permit reasons and it does not affect us at all.

Cool that you could do it by public transport - much cheaper than hiring a car once you calculate the rental and fuel. Well done and congratulations. Nice that you met a thoughtful/ nice IO as well - it is a big deal for most of us that are going through the process and there is nothing quite like an IO who does not really care or is hostile to put a dampener on your 'special' day.