I-751: A (Birthday) Trip to Canada…

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

In case you were interested in reading about what happened when I crossed the Canada/US border on my birthday (12/08/08) while my I-751 case is still pending, I thought I’d post this detailed “Review” about my experience of “A (Birthday) Trip to Canada…Travelling with expired/expiring documents while case pending...”, to share with the rest of the VJ community here. Happy reading, Everyone!

Commonly Used Abbreviations in this detailed “Review”:

CBG=Canadian Border Guard

ABG=American Border Guard

D=Ant’s Husband

Ant=Me, D’s Wife

(…)=Extra information/Ant’s internal thoughts not said out loud

“12/08/08: A (Birthday) Trip to Canada…Travelling with expired/expiring documents”

9:30am-11:30am: I went online to check my e-mail and other stuff, and found an e-mail/e-card from my husband, D, detailing what we he had planned for us, to celebrate my birthday. To my surprise, I found that our day also consisted of taking a trip to Niagara Falls, Canada, too, which I thought was a nice surprise, indeed! So for the next 2hrs, we drove through the winding snowy rural roads of NYS USA, to get to Canada. Along the way, we also bought a slice of ‘birthday cake’ and some yogurt to eat during our trip (I couldn’t eat anything else anyways, as I was feeling somewhat nauseous).

11:30am: We cross the Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls,USA to Niagara Falls,Canada)…

D: Gives a US $20 bill to the first booth, to pay for the $3.50 Bridge Toll. We get the rest of it back in US change ($16.50)

D: Drives up to the guarded Canadian booth and gives our IDs to the CPG

CBG: (Looks at my soon-to-expire Canadian Passport, expired 2yr Green Card, NOA extension letter, NYS driver’s license, and looks at D’s NYS driver’s license and birth certificate)

CBG: “So, where do you folks call ‘home’?”

D: “(Names the small NYS rural town that we live in)”

Ant: (What? Whatever happened to the ‘What’s your citizenship?’question)

CBG: “How far away is that?”

D: “About 1-2 hrs or so from Niagara Falls here”

CBG: “What do you do for a living?”

D: “(Tells of his work and of my ‘work’)”

CBG: “How are you two related?”

D: “We’re married. Husband and Wife.”

Ant: (I guess they didn’t read our IDs too carefully to notice we have the same last name)

CBG: “What’s the purpose of your trip?”

D: “To visit Niagara Falls and for her (points over at me) birthday”

CBG: “Where do you plan on going?”

D: “To the Bird Kingdom and to see the Falls after”

CBG: “How long will you be going for?”

D: “A few hours or so”

CBG: “How much do you have with you” (looks over at the money in my hand)

D: “About $50 or so”

CBG: “Are you bringing anything else or anyone else with you?” (looks through the tinted windows of our vehicle, and sees the snow shovel in the backseat)

D: “No” (lol…I guess he didn’t want to declare the shovel or the food we had with us)

CBG: “Have a good day then” (Gives us back our IDs, and we proceed to Canada…)

11:30am-2:00pm: We arrive at the “Bird Kingdom Aviary”, located right next to the border at Niagara Falls, Canada. We spend a few hours there, enjoying the sights and the sounds of the many hundreds of birds, fish, reptiles, and other creatures, all in the comfort of tropical-like warm 72F/21C degrees climate-control environments. With our camera, we ‘shot’ many photos of the many creatures that we encountered, learned more about them by reading the informational signs posted, and I even got a chance to hold a bearded-dragon/lizard in my hands. As well, towards the end of our visit, we even got our ‘birthday photo’ taken with a ‘6ft long python snake’ wrapped around the both of us (lol…if a snake wrapped around us doesn’t mean love, I don’t know what else does)! What a great ‘tropical adventure’ we had there that day!

We also drove by and stopped for a few minutes in front of the Canadian side of the “Falls” to take some photos of the scenery there. We would have stayed longer, but we got soaked from sprays of water from the falls, felt too cold from the winter weather, and couldn’t find long-term parking towards closer to the edge of the Falls.

2:00pm-4:30pm: We then go shopping at “Zellers” (A Canadian department store) and “Wal-Mart” (Yes, there are Wal-Marts in Canada too) in Niagara Falls, Canada. I search for Canadian “Smarties” (chocolate-coated candy that is like M&Ms but in my opinion looks and tastes a lot better), and buy/stock-up on 8-10 small boxes or so. Hopefully I’ve stocked up enough boxes for now (I wonder if I’ll have ‘smarties cravings’ later on). I also search for our the ‘holiday’ red and green version of “Smarties” that come in small boxes, but couldn’t find such, even after going to a couple of more stores afterwards (anyone in Canada know if they exist anymore and where I can find such?). Getting somewhat lost while driving through Niagara Falls, Canada we decided to head back and continue the rest of the day back to the USA instead.

4:30pm: We cross the Peace Bridge (Fort Erie,Canada to Buffalo,USA)….

D: Drives up to the guarded American booth and gives our IDs to the ABG

ABG: “What are your citizenships?”

D: “I’m American, and she’s (points over at me) is Canadian”

ABG: “What’s the purpose of your trip?”

D: “To visit Niagara Falls”

ABG: “Do you have anything to declare such as alcohol, tobacco, food?”

D: “No”

Ant: (Ok, so we didn’t declare the ‘smarties’ candy that we had with us)

CBG: “Are you bringing anything else or anyone else with you?” (looks through the tinted windows of our vehicle, and sees the snow shovel in the backseat)

D: “No” (lol…Again, he didn’t want to declare the shovel or the food we had with us)

ABG: “How are you two related?”

D: “We’re married. Husband and Wife.”

Ant: (Again, they didn’t read our IDs too carefully to notice we have the same last name)

ABG: “Where’s your passport?” (points over at D)

D: “I don’t have one” (lol…yeah, he doesn’t have one, but he’ll have to get one soon)

CBG: “You know you’re supposed to have one”

Ant: (The new land-crossing passport rules don’t go into affect until June 2009, from what I’ve read before, so D’s ok for now)

ABG: (Flips through all the pages of my soon-to-expire Canadian Passport, scans my expired 2yr Green Card into a machine, reads my NOA extension letter, looks at my NYS driver’s license, and looks at D’s NYS driver’s license and birth certificate)

Ant: (Wonders what they see exactly, when they scan the card through the machine)

ABG: “Changes in residency?”

D and Ant: “What?” (We both say at the same time, feeling confused)

D: “I’m a US Citizen. She (points over at me) is a Permanent Resident here in the US”

Ant: “That’s the extension letter there to extend the Green Card. I’m still waiting for the new 10yr card in the mail” (and I’ll be waiting for the next 7 months or so longer)

ABG: “Yes, I know that. I’ve read your extension letter” (Then why did you ask?)

ABG: “Have a good one” (Gives us back our IDs, and we proceed back to the USA…)

4:30pm-8:00pm: We stop in Buffalo NY to the “Eastern Hills Mall” and have our ‘birthday cake’ and the rest of our food treats there. As well, we go to the local “John and Mary’s Restaurant” and have our ‘birthday pizza dinner’ there. Yum! We arrive back home to our small rural NYS town at about 8:00pm or so, tired and exhausted from such a long day of birthday celebrating and a long day of interrogation at the borders!

Final thoughts: Alas, this is our ‘final’ trip to Canada for awhile (we are not going to take the risk again travelling up the border with my expired travel documents and while I’ll be further along pregnant). It was certainly quite a memorable birthday trip, indeed! So on that note, I say ‘goodbye/au-revoir’ to Canada, for now, which I will always have memories of for the rest of my life (lol…after all, that’s where I was originally from).

And who knows, maybe our next trip over the border to Canada will be a ‘family trip’ for the 3 of us (Ant, D, and Baby)…..

Ant (Full of Birthday Memories, Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for our Baby…)

[Lili 3]

I always love your posts Ant!

I am glad you had a fun trip in Canada. Happy late birthday!!

Oh and I had no idea on the baby...Congratulations!! When will you know the gender?

[NigerLA 1]

My wife and I made took a trip to Niagara falls this summer. I travelled with my expired Green Card and the extension letter, and had no problems whatsoever. Just to be sure that I was not going to encounter any problems, I got the stamp in my passport and they did not even bother to look at it.

I guess it really depends on who the border agents are.

Thanks for sharing.

[mbmw 0]

I like the level of Detail LOL

[awaterlily 0]

entertaining story! LOL

Hi Everyone,

[/size]

In case you were interested in reading about what happened when I crossed the Canada/US border on my birthday (12/08/08) while my I-751 case is still pending, I thought I'd post this detailed "Review" about my experience of "A (Birthday) Trip to Canada…Travelling with expired/expiring documents while case pending...", to share with the rest of the VJ community here. Happy reading, Everyone!

Commonly Used Abbreviations in this detailed "Review":

CBG=Canadian Border Guard

ABG=American Border Guard

D=Ant's Husband

Ant=Me, D's Wife

(…)=Extra information/Ant's internal thoughts not said out loud

"12/08/08: A (Birthday) Trip to Canada…Travelling with expired/expiring documents"

9:30am-11:30am: I went online to check my e-mail and other stuff, and found an e-mail/e-card from my husband, D, detailing what we he had planned for us, to celebrate my birthday. To my surprise, I found that our day also consisted of taking a trip to Niagara Falls, Canada, too, which I thought was a nice surprise, indeed! So for the next 2hrs, we drove through the winding snowy rural roads of NYS USA, to get to Canada. Along the way, we also bought a slice of 'birthday cake' and some yogurt to eat during our trip (I couldn't eat anything else anyways, as I was feeling somewhat nauseous).

11:30am: We cross the Rainbow Bridge (Niagara Falls,USA to Niagara Falls,Canada)…

D: Gives a US $20 bill to the first booth, to pay for the $3.50 Bridge Toll. We get the rest of it back in US change ($16.50)

D: Drives up to the guarded Canadian booth and gives our IDs to the CPG

CBG: (Looks at my soon-to-expire Canadian Passport, expired 2yr Green Card, NOA extension letter, NYS driver's license, and looks at D's NYS driver's license and birth certificate)

CBG: "So, where do you folks call 'home'?"

D: "(Names the small NYS rural town that we live in)"

Ant: (What? Whatever happened to the 'What's your citizenship?'question)

CBG: "How far away is that?"

D: "About 1-2 hrs or so from Niagara Falls here"

CBG: "What do you do for a living?"

D: "(Tells of his work and of my 'work')"

CBG: "How are you two related?"

D: "We're married. Husband and Wife."

Ant: (I guess they didn't read our IDs too carefully to notice we have the same last name)

CBG: "What's the purpose of your trip?"

D: "To visit Niagara Falls and for her (points over at me) birthday"

CBG: "Where do you plan on going?"

D: "To the Bird Kingdom and to see the Falls after"

CBG: "How long will you be going for?"

D: "A few hours or so"

CBG: "How much do you have with you" (looks over at the money in my hand)

D: "About $50 or so"

CBG: "Are you bringing anything else or anyone else with you?" (looks through the tinted windows of our vehicle, and sees the snow shovel in the backseat)

D: "No" (lol…I guess he didn't want to declare the shovel or the food we had with us)

CBG: "Have a good day then" (Gives us back our IDs, and we proceed to Canada…)

11:30am-2:00pm: We arrive at the "Bird Kingdom Aviary", located right next to the border at Niagara Falls, Canada. We spend a few hours there, enjoying the sights and the sounds of the many hundreds of birds, fish, reptiles, and other creatures, all in the comfort of tropical-like warm 72F/21C degrees climate-control environments. With our camera, we 'shot' many photos of the many creatures that we encountered, learned more about them by reading the informational signs posted, and I even got a chance to hold a bearded-dragon/lizard in my hands. As well, towards the end of our visit, we even got our 'birthday photo' taken with a '6ft long python snake' wrapped around the both of us (lol…if a snake wrapped around us doesn't mean love, I don't know what else does)! What a great 'tropical adventure' we had there that day!

We also drove by and stopped for a few minutes in front of the Canadian side of the "Falls" to take some photos of the scenery there. We would have stayed longer, but we got soaked from sprays of water from the falls, felt too cold from the winter weather, and couldn't find long-term parking towards closer to the edge of the Falls.

2:00pm-4:30pm: We then go shopping at "Zellers" (A Canadian department store) and "Wal-Mart" (Yes, there are Wal-Marts in Canada too) in Niagara Falls, Canada. I search for Canadian "Smarties" (chocolate-coated candy that is like M&Ms but in my opinion looks and tastes a lot better), and buy/stock-up on 8-10 small boxes or so. Hopefully I've stocked up enough boxes for now (I wonder if I'll have 'smarties cravings' later on). I also search for our the 'holiday' red and green version of "Smarties" that come in small boxes, but couldn't find such, even after going to a couple of more stores afterwards (anyone in Canada know if they exist anymore and where I can find such?). Getting somewhat lost while driving through Niagara Falls, Canada we decided to head back and continue the rest of the day back to the USA instead.

4:30pm: We cross the Peace Bridge (Fort Erie,Canada to Buffalo,USA)….

D: Drives up to the guarded American booth and gives our IDs to the ABG

ABG: "What are your citizenships?"

D: "I'm American, and she's (points over at me) is Canadian"

ABG: "What's the purpose of your trip?"

D: "To visit Niagara Falls"

ABG: "Do you have anything to declare such as alcohol, tobacco, food?"

D: "No"

Ant: (Ok, so we didn't declare the 'smarties' candy that we had with us)

CBG: "Are you bringing anything else or anyone else with you?" (looks through the tinted windows of our vehicle, and sees the snow shovel in the backseat)

D: "No" (lol…Again, he didn't want to declare the shovel or the food we had with us)

ABG: "How are you two related?"

D: "We're married. Husband and Wife."

Ant: (Again, they didn't read our IDs too carefully to notice we have the same last name)

ABG: "Where's your passport?" (points over at D)

D: "I don't have one" (lol…yeah, he doesn't have one, but he'll have to get one soon)

CBG: "You know you're supposed to have one"

Ant: (The new land-crossing passport rules don't go into affect until June 2009, from what I've read before, so D's ok for now)

ABG: (Flips through all the pages of my soon-to-expire Canadian Passport, scans my expired 2yr Green Card into a machine, reads my NOA extension letter, looks at my NYS driver's license, and looks at D's NYS driver's license and birth certificate)

Ant: (Wonders what they see exactly, when they scan the card through the machine)

ABG: "Changes in residency?"

D and Ant: "What?" (We both say at the same time, feeling confused)

D: "I'm a US Citizen. She (points over at me) is a Permanent Resident here in the US"

Ant: "That's the extension letter there to extend the Green Card. I'm still waiting for the new 10yr card in the mail" (and I'll be waiting for the next 7 months or so longer)

ABG: "Yes, I know that. I've read your extension letter" (Then why did you ask?)

ABG: "Have a good one" (Gives us back our IDs, and we proceed back to the USA…)

4:30pm-8:00pm: We stop in Buffalo NY to the "Eastern Hills Mall" and have our 'birthday cake' and the rest of our food treats there. As well, we go to the local "John and Mary's Restaurant" and have our 'birthday pizza dinner' there. Yum! We arrive back home to our small rural NYS town at about 8:00pm or so, tired and exhausted from such a long day of birthday celebrating and a long day of interrogation at the borders!

Final thoughts: Alas, this is our 'final' trip to Canada for awhile (we are not going to take the risk again travelling up the border with my expired travel documents and while I'll be further along pregnant). It was certainly quite a memorable birthday trip, indeed! So on that note, I say 'goodbye/au-revoir' to Canada, for now, which I will always have memories of for the rest of my life (lol…after all, that's where I was originally from).

And who knows, maybe our next trip over the border to Canada will be a 'family trip' for the 3 of us (Ant, D, and Baby)…..

Ant (Full of Birthday Memories, Still waiting at the VSC, Still waiting for our Baby…)

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your birthday well-wishes and thanks for reading this 'detailed' and 'entertaining' "review" that I posted here on VJ.

Yes, I did have a great time in Canada for my birthday celebrating that day with my husband. And yes, it was a nice surprise, indeed! Lol...crossing the border I wasn't too worried about, though I admit in the back of my mind I thought they would give me a harder time, having expired/expiring documents and all. Well, I guess that wasn't a problem, as we got there and back ok, with a few annoying and nosy questions (which is expected, anyways) from border officials along the way.

Still, I hope my 10yr green card comes soon (yeah right, if 7 more months can be called 'soon'), so I don't have to worry about issue of carrying around an expired green card and an extension letter anymore....

Good luck to everyone on your immigration journey! And good luck to you all too, whenever you go through any international crossings, such as between Canada and the USA!

Ant

P.S. (to some other points that some of you mentioned in your post replies)

-I agree, sometimes it depends on the border guard, as to if one encounters a good experience at the border, or a bad one. From my experiences, I admit that Canadian border guards are less stricter than the US border guards. Overall though, except for my POE (see my VJ timeline), all of my other experiences crossing between the US/Canada border have been good experiences, pretty much trouble-free, and in/out between the two countries in 10 mins or less...

-Thanks for the congratulations about the Baby. As for the gender scan, that won't be for quite awhile for us, as that happens somewhere between 16-20 weeks of the pregnancy. Either way, it doesn't matter to us as what gender the Baby is, as we'd love it anyways, regardless of gender or its medical condition or situation....

Edited December 13, 2008 by AntandD