HeadingNorth

I got my LMO through yesterday afternoon after waiting five weeks and headed straight down to the Coutts border crossing to flagpole. Stayed overnight in Lethbridge and went down for 10:30am,usually quiet there then.
The States border guards were exceedling helpful and friendly,explaining that turning me around wouldn't affect me coming to the States in future and anytime you want to come down fill in the 90 day visa and have a great day!
The Canadian side was the most humiliating experience in my whole life-period.
I was applying to change employer as I had been laid of prieviously.I was met with,quote "you should have gone back to England when you got laid off","I should send you back to England to get a get a permit" and "what do you say I send you back to England to get a permit now?" amongst others,all this in front of everyone in there.
I eventually got a permit for one year and was relieved of my $150 and got out before he changed his mind.Is it always like this when you flagpole for a change on your TWP?

Ron Liberman

No, and I suggest you may want to let a Supervisor at Coutts know about your experience.

HeadingNorth

He must have heard the guy-everybody else did.

I just talked to an acquaintance who changed his TWP by flagpoling there last year and the parting words of the border guard to him were "I never want to see you here again" so I guess I"m not alone in enjoying their welcome to Canada experience for potential new citizens.

Ron Liberman

In that case, perhaps you should write a polite letter describing this incident to a Supervisor at Coutts, and either you or your employer should write to the MP for your area, enclosing a copy of the letter written to the Supervisor.

In case you had not realised, Canadians know how to complain about almost everything - so if you intend to stay here, perhaps it is time to start practising!

kleinluka

that is ridiculous behavior. clearly someone there likes to abuse his power. i also suggest you write a letter. and just avoid that border post next time. most of my cic officer experiences have been pleasant so far. i had a nasty TWP@POE experience but I think it was mainly due to the officer being new and not knowing that TWP@POE was possible. This was luckily solved when a senior officer stepped in but she still seemed quite pissed at me for applying at POE even though i did nothing wrong and said "dont ever do that again" got my 3-year permit though...

AdrianR

In her eyes, you were guilty of challenging her AUTHORITAH!

Lorna_D

Just think yourself lucky you had a good experience on the Sweetgrass side - when we used this crossing last August with some relatives who had come for a visit, we were given the third degree before given an I94. "If you live in Saskatchewan why are you crossing the border in Alberta?" after explaining that we had relies over and were doing the toursity thing he questioned everything we said...... as if to catch us out. The furthest my relatives had travelled up until then was Spain so they were less than impressed with the treatment and told him if it was a problem they would go back to Sask

I'm really happy that you were able to get your LMO despite the problems, sometimes it's hard sucking it up so to speak.

iaink

Great idea.


There is NO excuse for a border guard to behave that way, and it smacks of him having no idea of the actual rules too. You are perfectly entitled to stay here on a work permit as long as its still valid, regardless of whether you were made redundant or not.

The border guard seems to have also forgotten that people come here on work permits to fill voids in the canadian skill set , not to sponge off the canadian taxpayer. Work permit holders are helping create canadian jobs and are here to increase the wealth of the canadian economy, ultimatley increasing the tax base that pays his f'in wages.

Id kick up a fuss for sure.

lancashirebird

we have to do this soon, so i will let you know how it goes

I really hope he doesnt start on me or i will set my 4yr on them, that will get them haha
No honest you shouldnt have to go through anything like that, i know people who have travelled down and we have met them as we are in lethbridge and they have had no problems..........

Think i will go on PMT week

HeadingNorth

Good luck-let us know how it goes.
I guess the four year old thing could work.

anne-ireland

We went to coutts about 8 weeks ago to change the employer on twp, and while the immigration officer wasnt rude, he did make it quite clear that we were to apply for any further changes through vegerville and not to come to the border, he even put this on the notes on our work permit.

As it happens we have to go to the border again, because the extension on the lmo has come through too late and we have lost status, so we have to go and get new work permits this week. We are going to avoid coutts though and go to carway, because i really do not want to run into same officer, hopefully this will be ok.
Anne

HeadingNorth

Don't want to put you off Carway but the company I now work for sent a guy down there to change his TWP about six weeks ago and they refused to change it and he ended up having to drive to Coutts to get it done there.

Also don't forget Carway isn't 24 hours.

Good luck with the process.

anne-ireland

Oh great!! really don't want to go to coutts!!

Thanks for the info, yeah we know it is open untill 23:00 since may 15

Anne

anne-ireland

Hi just wondering was your collegue given any reason at Carway why they wouldn't change his twp?

Thanks Anne

PMM

Hi

Probably along the lines that extensions changes should be going through Vegreville as the Port of Entries are getting too many of these requests and they are staffed for Border work, not inland work.