Originally Posted by orly

I'd suspect they've not tested it all with any volume.

Originally Posted by BritishExpatriate

Hi + Welcome to this discussion forum!

I don't know a lot about US immigration law. But, I'm pretty sure I have read in numerous places that it's a condition that if you enter the US on the VWP by plane, you need ESTA and you need a return flight booked.
This is going to sound ridiculous to any level headed individual with common sense, but I actually think you could be much better off doing the following.

Initially, fly from GB in to any major Canadian airport close to the US border. (Trudeau/Pearson/Vancouver) Then cross the US border by foot at a land border or on a Greyhound bus or a train.
The advantage here is if you cross into the US at the US/Canadian border and not on a plane then you don't need return travel booked.
Then, have an internal flight from NYC of Seattle, booked to take you to your destination in the US. Though when you cross the border into Canada, there's no need to mention that you're doing the IEC when you get back to Canada, especially if you don't have the visa or even LOI yet to back that up.



Another option would be to also fly to a major Canadian airport, but then have a connecting flight straight from that airport into the US.
The advantage of this is that if for the Canada-US leg of your journey you book a return flight, as far as the US is concerned, you're only travelling from Canada and so you have a return flight from your place of departure. I.e. You fulfill the VWP requirement of having a return flight booked.
But the real advantage of this option, is that all major Canadian airports have this thing called US pre-clearance facilities. Basically, there are US immigration officers stationed in the Canadian airport and they do all the checks to let you into the US before you leave Canadian territory.
This is excellent for two reasons:

1) Because the US immigration officers are operating on Canadian sovereign territory, they have NO right to detain you for 20 hours or force search you or any of that nonsense- all they can do deny you boarding (very unlikely if you have a return flight booked as you will meet all requirements)

2) They cannot put you on a plane back to the UK either. At the very worst (and this would be especially unlikely to happen) you'd have to stay in Canada as tourists until your LOI came through. But the most important thing to note here is not that you can't be sent back to the UK if refused entry, but rather that you would be IMO considerably less likely to be refused entry coming from Canada because by having a return flight booked, you will fulfill the requirements for air travel on the VWP. (visa waiver program) You could just book a return from the GB and not use the return flight but this will probably work out a lot more expensive than flying single to Canada and getting a return flight to the US.

Skyscanner.net is an excellent website for finding cheap return fares around North America. For the initial single flight to Canada I'd say Air Transat will be very cheap, I found a ticket for May for £179 London/Montreal.

Or you could initially use the US pre-clearance facility at Dublin, though this option is less favourable as whereas it guarantees you won't be detained or need to be flown back to Europe if you are refused entry, you will still have the issue of a return flight, increasing your chances of being refused entry.

It's good you're thinking about this ahead of time as flying directly from GB to the US on a single ticket creates a good chance of refused entry.
Good luck!


I think it is, but why would you want to? (I don't think any menthod of transferring GBP into Canadian account whilst still overseas will give you a favourable exchange rate) Nothing. You as the main applicant have to list each of your immediate family members such as parents and siblings, state their profession and confirm if they will or will not be accompanying you to Canada and give your signature for each family member you put on the sheet. But you're required to do it all yourself they're not required to do anything.

You're welcome!

Originally Posted by orly

If you use services like CurrencyFair or HiFx to transfer funds from the UK to a CAD account you can get a very favourable rate.

Originally Posted by stuartancell17

Yes, they will just use your UK address as your fixed address. Best idea is to go in to a branch when you get there takes about 10 mins and they can give you a debit card there and then, so you dont need a mailing address to get it sent to. I'm with BMO thats what they did, but could be different with other banks. However I cant remember if you need your SIN number first or not.

Originally Posted by kirbzzz

I'M ON TENTERHOOKS!!! any ideas when the 2013 application will open?

so excited but feeling anxious and impatient!!!

Originally Posted by BritishExpatriate

364 days or less!

Originally Posted by Dandaman1

From International Experience Canada Germany:

"Please note the following changes:

The 2013 International Experience Canada (IEC) initiative is anticipated to start as of mid-January 2013. We will post all the information necessary to apply on this website at that time."

If the UK programme runs on a similar timeline, we should hopefully be expecting the application process to open soon.

Originally Posted by Mike111

Thank you so much for the in-depth response, it really is much appreciated! Ill certainly keep the forum up to date with whichever method we use and how well it works…

Ill need to look into it, but I believe going to Canada first and then heading into the US - and then going back to Canada again - will be much more expensive than going direct to California. Plus, I would have thought that the Canada Border Agency wouldn't be too happy on letting us in on one-way tickets without plans in Canada?

Originally Posted by RickD

Just though I'd give a quick update to everyone. I arrived in Canada on 28th December and was massively shocked at how quickly immigration issued me with a wor permit. The officer didn't check ANY of my docs, not even my welcome letter (I'm assuming that he had my details on some sort of system). Not saying that this is the case for everyone who enters under IEC, but I have to say I was expecting a more detailed check considering that when I entered on my passport last year for an extended stay I had my laptop and phone examined by immigration.

Anyways, I have a quick question regarding appling for 2013, I received my police certificate back, however I sent off for it from the UK and it has my last address in the UK on it. I am now in Canada and will be applying for my second year from here, which address should I use when completing the application form?

Originally Posted by Jennika

I don't see why not..? What insurance companies are you looking at where you get £100? The cheapest I can seem to find anywhere is Sainsburys for £200