carley_jackson

Hello everyone!

So after what seems an eternity my husband finally recieved his COPR in the mail this morning. So now we need to get him landed!
I just had a few questions and any help would be much appreciated;

Looking at the Wiki it seems we can get ourselves a little organised beforehand by filling in the Goods Accompanying list (I did read we don't need to, but I like to be prepared before we get there and make life a little bit easier for the Border agents if poss, plus i don't want to be there the whole day!) My question is this, Hubby has no stuff, he's been here as a visitor since May, we were married here and lived here etc all he has is clothing to bring from England. Does he need to fill in a form just for clothes that he would bring as a visitor anyway? I realise this isn't normal, most people have a whole life to bring with them but with our constant going back and forth throughout our relationship we have everything we need already in Canada.

Can I go shopping haha, if i'm going to drive all the way to the border i'd like to go to the mall before we come back to Land in Canada. Besides I've felt a little bit trapped here for the past 9 months waiting for this visa malarky to go through Will this just make things complicated? Should I save my shopping trip for another time lol!
If we don't shop am I right in thinking we just let the people at the border know our intentions are to land and we don't really need to enter the USA.

Family day....is this a bad day to flagpole?

Thanks
Carley

ninaDGBCA

I wouldn't write a Goods to follow. If he didn't bring anything in but clothes and you bought everything over here then that's what I'd tell the border officer. If you tell the US guys that you want to flagpole they'll refuse entry. It's just administrative but they'll send you straight to the Canadians and no shopping . We told the US border officers we are going on a shopping trip and luckily they didn't ask if we had paperwork with us, which they actually did ask a few months before that. We got our I94s.Then we did the shopping, went back and landed. Nice and smooth . Family day is not a holiday for everyone. City and Government people work and a few others do too. So generally I'd say why not family day. But don't blame me if you have 3 hours queuing up at the border
Have fun!

JAJ

Discussed at:
http://britishexpats.com/wiki/Trip_a...lagpole-Canada

carley_jackson

I read that thank you, but still had the above questions.

JGK

You don't even have to flagpole. You can arrange an appointment at the local immigration office.

carley_jackson

There's a three month wait! And its mainly for people who live too far from a border i was told by cic. We've waited long enough just want to get it done.

Former Lancastrian

Yes you can flagpole and make it a shopping day/weekend as well providing you are willing to pay the $6 for each I94 waiver required. Yes you will need a list of goods to follow for when those goods still in the UK are sent over.
CBSA will do the B4 for you all he needs is his COPR forms.
Dont stress its easy to flagpole.

carley_jackson

Thank you

leg89

I'm in a slightly different situation, but an interested to hear if it is as easy for me to flagpole.

My IEC visa runs out on 10th April, I live in Calgary so was planning to drive to the boarder and just declare that i wanted to re-enter Canada immediately to activate my new IEC visa. Is this frowned upon?

I could always do an overnight stay but would still have to declare that I want to activate my visa on the way out as it would have my expiring visa in my passport. Hmmm. Any advice would be greatly appraciated!

wolstie

Worst case you are given an administrative refusal by the US, and sent back to Canada. If you are wanting to re-enter Canada straightaway anyway, this is the better option (you save $6).

Apparently, it's not as bad as it sounds and it doesn't affect future entry to the US.

R I C H

I got a refusal to enter the US when I flag polled. It meant a visit to secondary inspection and hours wasted on every subsequent trip to the US. It makes travelling there on that basis a complete pain in the ass.

wolstie

Then, I've had friends do the same, and have been told by CBP they don't need to tick the refusal box when they enter again. They never do, and never have any problems.

leg89

What a nuisance- I travel regularly to the states so don't really want that. I guess I have two options- either to head home to the UK for a week. Or to hop around the flagpole and risk the consequences, the latter being more financially viable at this stage. I think I will book an overnight stay in the states, pay the $6 waiver and declare that on my way back i will be activating a new visa (if they ask that is).

Gee whizz! thanks guys!

michty6

Where you planning on flag-poling? I flag-poled at Niagara on to my 2nd IEC visa and it was a piece of cake, no hassle at all. The guy on the US side asked if I wanted to enter the US and I said no thanks, just flag-poling!

leg89

Erm, wherever the closest border to calgary is. I think its the Montana border. People have such mixed experiences...