Visiting US and length of stay

[CitizenUS 0]

I was actually wondering this as well, as Ive been back and forth from Columbus to Toronto...

So....I'm not the only one.

My personal opinion is that the "number of days" is lax. I don't think they care if you can show them you still have ties (job, home address, memberships). It is dependent upon the person you have contact at the border and how they are feeling that day.

[thetreble 19]

I was actually wondering this as well, as Ive been back and forth from Columbus to Toronto...

So....I'm not the only one.

My personal opinion is that the "number of days" is lax. I don't think they care if you can show them you still have ties (job, home address, memberships). It is dependent upon the person you have contact at the border and how they are feeling that day.

Correct. But did you not say you/he is being laid off because he is a seasonal worker? So how can you have proof of employment? Again, most people don't have the ability to go to another country for 4 or 5 months and say they are still employed.

[CitizenUS 0]

I was actually wondering this as well, as Ive been back and forth from Columbus to Toronto...

So....I'm not the only one.

My personal opinion is that the "number of days" is lax. I don't think they care if you can show them you still have ties (job, home address, memberships). It is dependent upon the person you have contact at the border and how they are feeling that day.

Correct. But did you not say you/he is being laid off because he is a seasonal worker? So how can you have proof of employment? Again, most people don't have the ability to go to another country for 4 or 5 months and say they are still employed.

He is taking a voluntary layoff because his work slows down in the winter. His layoff status is temporary with a call back date by the construction outfit.

If a Canadian crosses into the USA and the patrol person doesn't scan the Canadian's passport, then how can the patrol person register a date of entry?

Maybe the patrol enters the license plate number as a person approaches the patrol shack and then ties that information to the date of entry.....I don't know.

That's why I'm here. To hopefully get answers.....hence the title of this thread. I am very interested in Canadian's stories on crossing the border into the USA .

[MsZ 6]

The US guys usually scan a passport, even USCs returning home. And it takes so little time to do it I wonder if some people are missing the scan.

The Canadians do not always scan our passports. Lately they seem more concerned about seeing documentation about transporting kids into Canada than anything else.

I've read somewhere, and I forget where, that you can ask for a border crossing record from Homeland Security but that it requires paperwork and time. You can't get it at the border.

I do believe that they image license plates, as well. But a license plate doesn't tie everything if you've got more than one person in the vehicle.

[thetreble 19]

My passport has always been scanned by US BP. I have even been stamped a few times in the last 6 months. On the Canadian side, not so much.

My opinion is that if you are spending more time in one country than the other, people are going to notice. Period. If you are going back and forth for a week every month or 6 weeks, it might not be as noticeable as someone going over to stay for 5 months. One of the questions I get asked every time is "what is your length of stay" or "how long have you been gone.."

I just wouldn't assume they are stupid and won't catch on.

[Sprailenes 47]

My husband lived with me illegally in Canada for two years and went back home for visits every now and then and was never asked more than the basic amount of questions at both borders.

He would even lie at the border and say he was just up to visit me for a weekend.

I don't suggest doing what he did, but I am just saying he did it and got away with it.

[thetreble 19]

On the Canadian side, I'd say fair dos. They are, in my opinion, more lenient. On the US side though, it always seemed much harder for Jared and I.

[Reba 2]

Considering that in the next few months passports are required for ALL travel to and from the US and Canada, and that CBP will be required to scan passports each way, its going to be a lot more difficult, if not impossible, to work the system anymore.

[SapphireDreams 71]

Well as a side note one time my friends and I went shopping across the border and my friend forgot her passport and her birth certificate, so we all decided just to give our licenses when we got up there. So we did, and then he asked for our proof of citizenship (probably because we looked a bit sneaky, LOL) and so myself and one friend gave our birth certificates and then my other friend didn't have a birth certificate, but had her passport so she gave that and then the BP guy was like... well if you had the passport all along why didn't you just give it to me, you make me have to type out all 4 of your information!

So the moral of the story is even if you don't give them your passport, they still track you and look you up in their system.

[MsZ 6]

I think the real question is, is it worth the fallout if you get caught trying to get one over on these guys? I don't think so, especially if you are still in the midst of trying to sort out immigration. While getting a waver seems like it isn't a big deal, again, is it worth the risk that it might be? If you really and truly want to be with your SO and live with them in married bliss, risking so much for NOW is probably not a solid plan.

[TayL 0]

Not my story, but the story of a Canadian woman who was standing next to me when I last crossed the border. She had ordered a book in NY and, since she lived about 30 miles from the store, she figured she'd take a day trip to go pick it up, rather than waiting for it to come to the store nearest her home (some kind of chain). She had everything. A copy of her lease agreement. Employment records. A copy of the receipt for the book and the order thingie saying it had arrived. She was literally taking a day trip. She hadn't brought her credit card or debit card--just enough money to get to her destination, have lunch, and come back. She had a return ticket.

They turned her back because she had said, on a previous visit, that she was headed down to visit her husband in Georgia.

The guards that day were real jerks, though. At one point I was swarmed by three of them and they questioned me, at length, on whether or not I knew how to play guitar. I had no music with me. No guitar. No nothing. And three of them just randomly came out and surrounded me and started questioning me on whether or not I could play guitar, how well I played guitar, what kind of music I played, etc. I've never been a famous musician, though I did win awards YEARS ago. I quit playing awhile back. I was a bit confused.

I think that's an example of bored/annoyed/mean border guards, that woman's story and my swarm, though.

[thetreble 19]

Good example of what can happen. Thanks, TayL.