Mimi

Hello everybody,

I am back from the vacantion to Canda and came back with some
thoughts about what's it like to cross from USA to Canda and what u
need to do that. It's been a ground entry and turned out i only needed
my passport and GC. At the boarder with Canada we have been asked about
the length of our stay, if we were carring any fire arms(ofcource not,
we answered), where we're gonna stay and for how long. She did NOT
swipe my GC at the boarder entrance to Canada! just looked at both
passport and GC and that was it.
Inside Canda we decided to start walking the boarder bridge to cross
on foot to New York to see Niagara on the New York's side as well.
Well, this was even simpler. At the entrance to USa on foot we told the
officer on duty we're gonna stay for a couple of hours in New York
cause we wanna see the Niagara on that side as well. She scanned my GC
and looked at my passport and that was it, we were back in. Back to
Canada, my GC was NOT scanned again.
Leaving to go back home, the officer asked us where we live, how
long we've stayed in Canda and if we are bringing any merchandise back
into the country. If you answear yes, they look in the car's trunk but
if you say no, they take your word for it and you go forward into the
country.
It has been a fun vacantion with no problems what's so ever at the
boarder. You need no extra visas. GC is enough to go anywhere you want,
wether it's the country of your citizenship or not:).

hope this helps future travellers:)
mimi

Elenfair

That's a dangerous claim. If they have any suspicion about what you're bringing back into the US, they can have a look. Saying "no" isn't a guarantee you won't have issues.

As for the GC scans, I don't see why a foreign country would care about it - the US will care about it when you return, but that's about it.

Glad you had a good trip.

Rete

Have to agree with you. If you did buy something, you are allowed to spend x amount of money duty free per 24 hour period. Just be honest, give them the receipts and you're fine.

As for scanning or not scanning the greencard, my husband is a dual citizen, Canada and US, and often gets a hard time at the Can/Am border from the Canadians.

Lots depends on the border crossing and the agent doing your ~interview~.

sgallagher

    > As for scanning or not scanning the greencard, my husband is a dual
    > citizen, Canada and US, and often gets a hard time at the Can/Am border
    > from the Canadians.

What exactly do the Canadian border agents seem to have an issue with?

Elenfair

Good question, that. Sometimes, I think it's just a matter of someone having pissed in their cornflakes (shredded wheat?) that morning

I never get any trouble from either Canadian or US border people. Hell, I was quite lucky. I flew out of Ottawa a LOT, through the K1 process, and travelled a LOT betwen the US and Canada while waiting for my visa. That said, Ottawa International is a relatively small airport, and there were 4 immigration/border/customs people who worked there at the times when I would travel. They knew me and my service dog on a first name basis. I guess they always trusted me to "come back", since they saw me almost every 2 weeks...

I didn't always travel to see my better half, so maybe that also helped my cause. Who knows! I do know, though, that they all giggled happily when I presented them with my K1. Sometime, I'll have to post THAT story.

Rete

It is the Canadian agents not the US agents. Even though he is a Canadian US he often is put through the wringer as to destination, citizenship(s), residency in the US, etc., etc., etc. But he gives better than he gets so they are the ones who step back and welcomes him back to his own country. See my post from this weekend on this forum.

pianoplayer

It has been a fun vacantion with no problems what's so ever at the
boarder. You need no extra visas. GC is enough to go anywhere you want,
wether it's the country of your citizenship or not.

hope this helps future travellers
mimi[/QUOTE]

Mimi

Glad you enjoyed your vacation. Be really careful with your words though - I am pretty sure you meant these words with reference to Canada, but some may take it that you can go anywhere with the green card. THIS IS NOT TRUE and very dangerous to assume.

Many countries do not care if you have a GC or not - they determine whether you need a visa or not by your citizenship. E.g. try going to Australia with just your foreign passport and the GC and you will be sent back. They want you to have a valid Australian visa, and are not interested in the GC. This is just one example.

Take care

sgallagher

Rete wrote:
    > > > As for scanning or not scanning the greencard, my husband is a dual
    > > > citizen, Canada and US, and often gets a hard time at the Can/Am
    > > > border
    > > > from the Canadians.
    > >
    > > What exactly do the Canadian border agents seem to have an issue with?
    > It is the Canadian agents not the US agents.

Who said anything about the US agents????

    > Even though he is a
    > Canadian US he often is put through the wringer as to destination,
    > citizenship(s), residency in the US, etc., etc., etc. But he gives
    > better than he gets so they are the ones who step back and welcomes him
    > back to his own country.

Part of the reason could be that they want to make sure he is truly
returning as a visitor versus as a resident, since a visitor is allowed
to bring the items in his posession into Canada duty and tax free (as
long as he plans on taking them back out with him and they're not
prohibited items).

Mimi

<That's a dangerous claim. If they have any suspicion about what
you're
bringing back into the US, they can have a look. Saying "no" isn't a
guarantee you won't have issues. >

Ofcource not. You have to be honest about what you're bringing back
into the country, period. If they take your word for it or they decide
to search you and your car that's totaly up to them. I am just writing
about MY trip and what i saw happening in front of me at the boarder. I
am sure, as millions of people who travel every year in and out of the
country, they all have a different unique experience to share. This one
is mine and should be taken likewise :).
I also didn't mean to say that you can travel to every country just
on GC and passport. I have no way of knowing that since i have not
travelled all over they world so far(but i'm planning to:)). Plese
don't take my words out of context and read my entire post. My post
refers to Canada and Canada only as a non citizen of that country and
as a permanent resident of USA.
And remember...i'm just sharing my experience, that's all.

all the best,
mimi

Rete

That is the point or rather besides the point as he always tells them when asked where he is going. He clearly advises in both English and in French that he is visiting his sister and her family in Montreal for a visit of x number of days. He tells him exactly what he is bringing in if it other than a suitcase.

They do have the right to question where he is going and the length of the visit but they do not have the right to ask to see another passport. I'm being nice here and will not say what he said when he ranted when he told be about it. For what it is worth, English Canadian agents are fine, it is the Quebecois who are the problem.

pianoplayer

I also didn't mean to say that you can travel to every country just
on GC and passport. I have no way of knowing that since i have not
travelled all over they world so far(but i'm planning to). Plese
don't take my words out of context and read my entire post. My post
refers to Canada and Canada only as a non citizen of that country and
as a permanent resident of USA.
And remember...i'm just sharing my experience, that's all.

all the best,
mimi[/QUOTE]

Mimi,

I know that you were only talking about your trip and Canada in particular. But I am sure you can see that your original post could be confusing to some people. I refer to:

"...You need no extra visas. GC is enough to go anywhere you want,
wether it's the country of your citizenship or not. "

I was pretty sure you did not mean this, but just wanted to point it out so as to avoid some reading it in the wrong way. As you probably know, or will find out; there are not many countries in the world(although a few) that consider the green card in the visa exemption process. Most countries do not care about your immigration status in the US(or about your immigration status in any other country for that matter), but will consider your country of citizenship by which you plan to enter.

However, the green card is considered by some countries, such as Canada, Mexico and some other Caribbean countries just off the top of my head.

Hope you were not offended - I just wanted to clarify.

Best wishes

Mimi

Pianoplayer,

I know exactly what you meant "...You need no extra visas. GC is
enough to go anywhere you want,
wether it's the country of your citizenship or not:). ". It does sound
like that if you read this part and this part only. I also think
people on this news group are intelligent enough to see the forest for
the trees, otherwise i wouldn't have asked for their advices( underline
-as reference!-) so many times on different issues. Whom ever doesn't
have a good knoledge or understanding of phrased english language and
needs help should probably look under a lawyer than read my post or any
other post for that matter. They'll understand whatever they wanna
understand anyway no matter how lawyer-like, knit picked my post is
written. Hope you took no offence.
Anyway...let me rephrase myself:) "You need no extra visas-to
travel to Canada-. GC is enough to go anywhere you want-in Canada-,
wether -Canada- is the country of your citizenship or not".
I'll stop here before this discussion goes waaaay beyond
ridiculous.


all the best,
mimi

Brenda Ballard

hi
my husband and I just got back from the east coast of Canada......and
more questions coming back into the United States than going into
Canada........same sort of questions they looked at both passports,
driver licenses, and my husband's green card......any guns, cigarettes,
meats, food, vegetables, or liquor in the car......did you spend more
than $800.00 and we didnt have none of these items.......the things in
this section of Canada are so soso so
expensive.........they looked into the trunk of our car......and gave us
our things back and said welcome back to the United States.......my
husband looked over to me and said..... it is good to be back
home......we had a great trip and met all his family......and it is good
to be back in tenn..

bb

pianoplayer

I hope you were not offended. Reading and writing concisely and precisely should not only be exclusive to lawyers. Even though I am in law school, it is a habit important for everyone to practice; especially when dealing with matters as important as immigration, where certain decisions can have a great effect on someone's status in the country, travel plans etc.

It is not nit-picking, but rather a habit of being accurate and thorough. I was really not trying to pick on your post. You will be surprised to see how many people on here really do not know much about some immigration topics at all and there are some language barriers. That is why I think it is important to keep it as clear and accurate as possible at all times. Again, I was simply qualifying a very general, unclear statement in your post. Believe me, I have had people correct and qualify my posts here before and I am always glad if they do so - each time I learn more.

Best wishes

Rete

It is obvious that the OP does not count English as her first language. Being such, she is doing quite a good job of it but as you pointed out certain words used in a sentence, i.e. should, could, would, can make a sentence read entirely different from what was intended.