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…)

[BH45 0]

First off - belated Happy Birthday.

Your journey yesterday sounded like it was a wonderful day trip. I'm really glad to read that you didn't experience any "major" issues at the crossings - just silly questions. I hope that your 10 yr GC arrives sooner than you expect.

I hope your pregnancy is enjoyable.

I'm looking forward to my trip to Ontario in 2 weeks. We'll be there for 10 days and I can hardly wait.

[trailmix 77]

Sounds like a really nice trip and a nice birthday ant

Oh..and you are in the Canada forum, we are familiar with Zellers and Walmart

[MrsCat 6]

Happy Belated Birthday - hope the 10 year GC comes soon.

Sounds like a really nice trip and a nice birthday ant

Oh..and you are in the Canada forum, we are familiar with Zellers and Walmart

Zellers - I miss that store.

Edited December 10, 2008 by MrsCat

[Carlawarla 1]

What a lovely birthday present you received! Hope your day was happy...it sounds like it! Nothing too amiss at your crossings. Why DID you have a shovel in the back seat though?

[Emancipation 2]

happy birthday.. what you describe above sounds pretty standard, so I wouldn't let it stop me (once you get your passport renewed, and hubby brings his along).. I think you guys did well!! And such a nice surprise for your b'day!

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your birthday well-wishes and thanks for reading this '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)

-As for the shovel in the backseat, that's to shovel the snow, as we have a lot of here in NYS (heck, even more than certain parts of Canada at times). Lol..I guess my husband had left it in the backseat of our vehicle and forgot to take it out the night before when he was shoveling Mom's/Mother-In-Law's driveway at her place (she's still in the hospital, by the way)....

-As for renewing my Canadian passport, I probably won't do that, as it costs too much and I don't use it that often to justify the cost ($90 for 5 years...what a rip-off), and I can't find a guarrantor here in the US or in Canada to sign for it. Instead I'll just let my Canadian passport expire in January, wait for my 10yr green card, and wait another year or so for an American passport ($100 for 10 years, or $20 for 10 years for the card) when I become an American citizen. My husband though, says he will probably get an enhanced NYS driver's license when his license expires next year, so that will help on his end for border crossings to Canada. For our future baby/child we'll probably get an American passport for them (lol...don't think they give driver's licenses to babies/children).

[Carlawarla 1]

I thought I read on here not that long ago that Canada passports were moving to 10 years now? Maybe that's not in effect yet? Maybe of course I'm remembering wrong as well. Until you're a US citizen, and get an American passport, unless you have some other passport, you WILL need to renew your Canadian passport to be able to cross the border however after June of this year. Unless you don't plan on going back and forth?

Sorry to hear your MIL is still in hospital. Are things any better?

[Brian and Jenn 0]

Im glad you had a great trip Ant and D!!

Jenn and I too love the falls and that was my POE when I came here permantly (drove from the falls to FL, weeeeeee)

The IO's we had were not very nice and made us feel like we were commiting some kind of premeditated murder. It seriously felt like an interogation then went on for atleast 1.5 hours.

It was worth it to be with my wife though, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Goodluck with your Greencard and let me know how the license for you goes. PM me if you wish!

Congrats again on the baby!!!!

-Brian

[antda 13]

Hi Carla,

I haven’t heard about that new 10yr rule for Canadian passports that you mentioned about. But if there is such a rule, I think that it’s a good idea to have such, as it seems as though Canada is the only country in the world (or maybe it isn’t, someone else clarify me on this), that only gives 5yr passports and give applicants such a hard time when renewing their passports (what’s the deal about the guarantor thing anyways), while other countries give 10yr passports and make the application process more quick and simple. Yes, I would have to wait until I am a US citizen to get a US passport, and hopefully that’s won’t be too long away, as according to current citizenship timelines, will probably be in January 2010 at earliest for me. Meanwhile, my Canadian passport expires in January 2009, and yes, I am aware that I will have an expired passport if I don’t renew it. Also, I have an expired 2yr green card too with an extension letter, and am waiting for my 10yr green card until approximately July 2009.

So, for the next year or so, I don’t think I’ll be traveling over the border to Canada, or internationally to anywhere else anytime soon, especially with all (funny, how everything expires all at the same time) of my expired travel documents.

As well, I don’t think that traveling during pregnancy and/or with a newborn baby is a good idea either. Rather, I’d just wait until I’m better medically and when our baby/child is older and is more capable of traveling such long distances over international borders to different countries….

Lol...the only traveling I’ll pretty much be doing in the next year is locally in the USA to doctor/medical appointments and to the hospital when it is time for labour….

As for my MIL, sigh, “the story still continues”, as the situation with her seems to drag on to what seems like forever and at times seems to get worse. In the meantime, we’re all trying to make some long-term arrangements, and wondering what will happen next for her…

Ant

I thought I read on here not that long ago that Canada passports were moving to 10 years now? Maybe that's not in effect yet? Maybe of course I'm remembering wrong as well. Until you're a US citizen, and get an American passport, unless you have some other passport, you WILL need to renew your Canadian passport to be able to cross the border however after June of this year. Unless you don't plan on going back and forth?

Sorry to hear your MIL is still in hospital. Are things any better?

[antda 13]

Hi BrianandJenn,

Yes, we had a great trip over the border to Niagara Falls Canada for my birthday. My husband and I love the falls too, and like you, that was our POE. As well, we got married in a small garden/park in the Niagara region of the USA, which was nice too. And yes, every so often, we travel to Niagara Falls (we only live 1-2 hrs away) for short trips too.

Sorry that you had a hard time during your POE and that you were interrogated at the Rainbow Bridge for 1.5 hrs or so. Likewise, I was interrogated for 2 hrs or so there too when I crossed over there for my POE about 2 years ago, and they made us feel not very comfortable there either. In fact, after the 2 hrs, I was very surprised when they did say “So, how long do you plan on visiting?” (about 2 weeks), and stamped my passport accordingly with a visitor’s stamp, to let me through. Lol…I guess we “got even” with them, as I ended up staying here more than 2 weeks, and it ended up being a “lifelong visit” here in the US for me instead….

Still, going through that bad POE experience has not stopped us from visiting Niagara Falls (on both sides of the border), and crossing the Rainbow Bridge ever again (though I admit, I prefer using the Peace Bridge anyways, as it’s a lot quicker to cross there). And I hope too, that your bad POE experience doesn’t stop you from ever crossing the border from Niagara Falls and/or visiting Niagara Falls ever again.

I agree, “I would do it again in a heartbeat too”, just be with my husband. Oh the things we do for the ones that we love!

Good luck too, with your 2yr Green Card and with your Florida driver’s license, and hope you get both of those soon too. And yes, do let us all know about that here on VJ.

As for my 10yr Green Card, that won’t be for awhile (oh another 7 months or so), so it will quite the wait there. As for my driver’s license, no need to worry about that for awhile, as they already gave me a 4yr license here in NYS, when I exchanged it from my valid Canadian one, even though at the time I had a 2yr green card. Funny though, I can drive and work legally in the USA for 4 years and longer, with a 4yr driver's license and an unrestricted SSN, yet I cannot live here for more than 2 years, unless I get my green card renewed for a 10yr one with the

I-751... Weird....

Thanks again for the congrats about the Baby. Hope that works out well for us too. And yes, I’ll update everyone on VJ here about that too. Meanwhile: “Which will arrive for AntandD first: 10yr Green Card or Baby?: Vote Here”

Ant

Im glad you had a great trip Ant and D!!

Jenn and I too love the falls and that was my POE when I came here permantly (drove from the falls to FL, weeeeeee)

The IO's we had were not very nice and made us feel like we were commiting some kind of premeditated murder. It seriously felt like an interogation then went on for atleast 1.5 hours.

It was worth it to be with my wife though, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Goodluck with your Greencard and let me know how the license for you goes. PM me if you wish!

Congrats again on the baby!!!!

-Brian

Edited December 13, 2008 by AntandD