What happens if I get denied at border as IR-1 is pending?

[Benjamin44 10]

I have seen Canadians have issue with driving US plate cars with US insurance into Canada.

1, Recently someone was told they had to import the car to Canada and get all new insurance and plates on it from Canada.

2, Someone was told they cannot drive a US car into Canada on a Canadian license or passport because its American.

I have never heard of those rules, they seem weird... but in any event, in this case, I can get around it by having my family member(s) who is/are U.S. Citizen(s) be in the driver's seat when we pull up to the border.

But wait- does that mean, for the rest of my life even after I become an LPR, I will never be allowed to drive my U.S.-plates car into Canada for a visit?!?!? Even though I am Canadian??

[Marilyn. 340]

I have never heard of those rules, they seem weird... but in any event, in this case, I can get around it by having my family member(s) who is/are U.S. Citizen(s) be in the driver's seat when we pull up to the border.

But wait- does that mean, for the rest of my life even after I become an LPR, I will never be allowed to drive my U.S.-plates car into Canada for a visit?!?!? Even though I am Canadian??

i think the issue is the DL.... one you become a lpr you need to get a US DL

[SapphireDreams 71]

You might be right. But let me ask you Saphire- have you ever heard of anyone doing DCF whom the guard at the borderstopped and said, "Wait, you are applying for an immigrant visa?" I would be interested to know if it were even possible, considering I did the whole process abroad and with a different passport. Do you know how linked their systems are?

I don't think anyone really has that much insight into what their systems know and don't know about us. They likely wouldn't directly ask you that question, but they are trained to ask you a series of questions to pull out the information that they need to figure out if you are trying to circumvent immigration process or if you really are just visiting. The important part is having the proof necessary to show that you are visiting.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter what is or isn't in their system. When answering their questions, just be truthful and have proof to back up your plans!

[Benjamin44 10]

Hi everyone,

I firstly wanted to thank everyone for their honest replies and help in my slightly strange situation, and to update you all on what happened The truth is- I didn't think it was so strange, but then I realised that while people often go on visits to the US during the immigration process, they always go back to the visa-issuing country afterwards to finish the process- after all, they still have the interview to do!! Once that's done, the visa is usually issued within a week or two, making the need to visit the US between interview and issuance almost moot. My case was unique, because since I was missing a document on interview day (beyond my control- the RCMP Canadian Criminal Background Check process actually takes longer than the ENTIRE US immigrant-visa process- at least when filing DCF) a 4-week extra "document processing" time-frame was added- basically, the time it takes them to open the document you submit. As it happened, in the end, it took the Consulate 32 days from the time I dropped off my missing document until the visa was received by my family back in my former country, and as it happened, it was during this window that I had to move to the US, without any intention of returning. It was a bit strange leaving without my visa and knowing I wouldn't be going back to get it, while all of the so-crucial processing would be going on there without my even being in the country. But such is life sometimes...

So now, to update you on my visit attempt... I get to the lineup at Newark Airport, head for the "Foreign Visitors" line, knowing it would be for the last time... yay! The worst part was, the lineup was SO LONG. So I had all this extra time to get super-nervous, how awesome... even though I knew that looking nervous is probably the worst thing for me. It seemed like the fingerprinting and photographing of everyone took longer than usual, but that could have bene just me... anyways, I went over what I was going to say, the truthful answers of course- planning to be in the U.S. for 10 days, to visit family in 3 different cities, thinking how to avoid saying that for part of the time I'd be visiting my American spouse unless they asked directly, etc. And, I finally get to the officer, and wordlessly give him my Canadian passport, and wait for his questions. He quickly swipes my passport. And then, you know what he says? NOTHING! Not ONE word! He stamps my passport, gives it to me, and says "thank you." He doesn't even ask, "How long will you be here?" or "What is the purpose of your trip?" Even those regular questions, which are routine for anyone, let alone someone going through the immigration process. Didn't even say one single word... so bizarre. So yeah, so much for the system knowing about immigration applicants abroad, cause it seems like it doesn't. He still swiped my passport, but obviously nothing interesting came up. I should note that I used a DIFFERENT passport during the IR-1 process at my Consulate abroad, maybe that has something to do with it? So nothing came up with my Canadian passport since that wasn't the passport number that the Consulate put into the system? I'm not sure, but it could be that the systems aren't connected, especially in DCF cases. Anyways, I'm still so surprised that he didn't even ask a single question at all. I'm thinking that maybe he was just so tired of doing fingerprints and photographs all day, and so when he saw a Canadian citizen- a rare case (since most Canadians arrive from Canada and go through the POE in Canada) with whom he doesn't have to do all that (Canadian visitors do not get fingerprinted under US-VISIT)- he was so happy to get a break and just waive me through without any work that he didn't even bother asking the basics. Either way, my worrying was for nothing- but of course I am much happier this way!!

In the meantime, 2 weeks after I entered the US, my visa was issued and arrived with my family back in my former country. I was in Canada at the time visiting family (a trip that was planned independently of this visa mess), which worked out really well- I just had my family send the visa and brown envelope to me in Canada, and I activated the IR-1 visa while driving back to the US one week later (POE Peace Bridge). So I am now officially an LPR- yay! And, amazingly, I already have my Green Card- just came yesterday, exactly 2 weeks after I entered at POE. A lot shorter than I thought.

Thanks to everyone who helped along the way, and good luck to everyone still on their journey!