internationals, problems entering canada?

[creasy19 0]

hey, sorry if this is a weird question, but you guys know how you get hassle from the US POE guys when they see in your passport how many times you have visited the states, has anyone ever been denied entry to canada because of how often you have entered the states? if they canadians look at your passport and see you have gone to the US a bunch of times, do they then assume you might just be going into canada to get to the states? or is it totally unrelated?

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks a lot guys

Paul

[RhondaM 0]

I don't know what your home country is, but let me tell you our horror story. My fiance visited me often in 2005. He is from France and he would come to see me in the US. We were always careful about him having to leave before the 90days on a VW, but we did make a trip to Canada once for sightseeing. When we came back through immigration at the border to enter US, there was not a problem. They re-issued him a VW and in essence restarted his 90 days. No one told us that was a problem. But later coming back to the US after a trip together to France, he was stopped at the airport, interviewed and sent home to France on the same plane we had arrived on. We started paperwork immediately for his K-3 and in the meantime he was blocked in France....this has been since March 2006. In the meantime his K-s was approved, but during his interview in Paris, the consul told him that he was judged to be "unlawfully present" in the US because of that Canada trip and that he needed a 601 and 212 waiver before he would be issued his K-3 visa. That paperwork was all sent to Rome where it was judged he never needed the waiver in the first place and that he should never have been denied entry back in 2006. So you see, it was a year and half for someone to determine that he never should have been denied in the first place!!! We have a happy ending....his k-3 visa is in his hand today, tomorrow he is booking his flight and he is coming back to the same airport, but this time he'll have all the right paperwork to be allowed in.

My advice would to be cautious about entries/exits between US and Canada.

[pushbrk 13,079]

hey, sorry if this is a weird question, but you guys know how you get hassle from the US POE guys when they see in your passport how many times you have visited the states, has anyone ever been denied entry to canada because of how often you have entered the states? if they canadians look at your passport and see you have gone to the US a bunch of times, do they then assume you might just be going into canada to get to the states? or is it totally unrelated?

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks a lot guys

Paul

We are not yet at war with Canada, so the Canadian authorities don't concern themselves with how many times you've legally entered the US. Transit through Canada to the US is allowed. There aren't any limits that would be effected by how many times you entered the US.

[TimsDaisy 0]

Has this been moved to the appropriate forum? Seems to be a question about traveling during or prior to K1 filing, which, yes, happens prior to the green card as well. But still . . . . .

[no name 1]

Has this been moved to the appropriate forum? Seems to be a question about traveling during or prior to K1 filing, which, yes, happens prior to the green card as well. But still . . . . .

posting police watch out!

[Mags 112]

Has this been moved to the appropriate forum? Seems to be a question about traveling during or prior to K1 filing, which, yes, happens prior to the green card as well. But still . . . . .

Daisy, please don't do this. It's just going to start people off and is totally un-called for.

If it needs to be moved, it'll be moved.

Edit: I have moved this topic to the Canadian Forum, mainly because it is unclear what part of the process the OP is at. Hopefully, members here with experience of traveling through Canada, during different parts of their Visa Journey, can help a bit more.

Until the OP is more clear regarding his/her details I cannot be more specific where I move it to.

Edited May 23, 2007 by mags

[Cassie 8]

hey, sorry if this is a weird question, but you guys know how you get hassle from the US POE guys when they see in your passport how many times you have visited the states, has anyone ever been denied entry to canada because of how often you have entered the states? if they canadians look at your passport and see you have gone to the US a bunch of times, do they then assume you might just be going into canada to get to the states? or is it totally unrelated?

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks a lot guys

Paul

we are fortunate to have current/former border agents here in the Canadian forum, hopefully they will see this and give some input.

In my humble opinion, I really don't think it makes much difference how many times you've been to the States.

[neiks 19]

hey, sorry if this is a weird question, but you guys know how you get hassle from the US POE guys when they see in your passport how many times you have visited the states, has anyone ever been denied entry to canada because of how often you have entered the states? if they canadians look at your passport and see you have gone to the US a bunch of times, do they then assume you might just be going into canada to get to the states? or is it totally unrelated?

any help or advice would be greatly appreciated

thanks a lot guys

What's your purpose of your trip to Canada?

How long are you staying?

One reason a person is denied entry to Canada is usually b/c the POE officer feels that the intent of that person is to come to Canada to stay. Same as the US, you must prove that your intent is to return to your home country. Having multiple stamps may bring about some additional question but it isn't a sole reason to deny someone entry unless there are other reasons that the POE officer may feel that your intent is to stay in Canada, for ex. you have been denied enty into the US. The POE officer probably won't even care about how many times you have been in the US as long as your true intent is to be a bon a fide visitor in Canada.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

As neiks mentioned, Canadian border authorities are more concerned about whether someone crossing the border intends to remain in Canada than if they are a frequent visitor to the US. Many people travel internationally for business purposes and have multiple entries to other countries when they arrive at the Canadian border and if they have the proper paperwork, etc. they shouldn't have a problem.

Since you are somewhere in the visa process for an immigrant visa to the US, if you have any concerns that the Canadian POE may believe you to have Canadian immigrant intentions, bring copies of your visa paperwork with you so that if you are questioned you can prove that your intentions are to immigrate to the US, not to Canada and that you have already initiated the process. As long as you have the correct visas to visit Canada (if required), no criminal record that shows up upon inquiry, and no prior Canadian immigration violations you should not run into any problems crossing into Canada.