entering Canada

[BUZz UK]

I don't give a shit about mexico, my friend asked me to ask about Canada, not mexico, so why would u post that? And I don't think he plans on bringing drugs, so fuck the dogs...

don't behave like a cock, he can say what he wants, he was just giving an answer, and it wasn't really off topic. if you behave like that, nobody will want to answer your questions.

[Porkchop]

I lived in Point ROberts and had to cross the blaine washington crossing everyday so I can tell you first hand it is a NIGHTMARE. They have taken my car apart removing seats etc. then left it all on the ground I had to call my son to help me get it back together.

I have been detained for more than an hour while they checked my background...and that was because when they ask where I was going I said the dentist and they ask the dentist name...and I could not remember it. It was my first visit! They made me late.

My husband bought a new car and it was raining they let drug dogs with muddy feet walk all over his seats...then when he bitched one of the guards took out a knife and said well we could look at the seats this way....some of the guards are complete assholes on either side or the border. It will just depend on which guard you get. My uncle drove all the way from Michigan to visit me but he had a felony conviction from the 60s and they refused to let him into Canada.
If your friend has a felony it would be better to fly or take the ferry from Seattle. They will still check your ID but they don't take your finger prints and run a background check like the border often does. Make sure you have a passport or TWO kinds of ID a picture ID AND a birth certificate. If you don't have an up to date passport they absolutely will not let you in unless you have both a picture ID and BC....

the Surrey crossing...they are not as bad as the Peace Arch.



Cat

I don't think my friend has a felony, it's just misdameanors, 3 of them,I heard if u take the ferry, they check u alot harder, he is going with his girlfriend and he has a valid passport. Where is the surrey crossing? Tell me more pls..

[BlueCat]

Hmm I have taken the ferry a lot from Seattle and did not get checked as much as at the peace arch but maybe I just got lucky.

my family lived in BC but worked in the US so we had to cross the border everyday and deal with those guys 2 and 3 times a day. So I can tell you they can be assholes.

My son got a misdameanor in the US and the canadians would not let him cross the border to get home. We had to pay someone to take him on a boat. I guess it will just depend on the person you get.

The main crossing Peace Arch is the worse...As you drive east you'll hit the truck crossing....keep going east and you will hit the surrey crossing. It is small kinda out in the country. With passports they should be ok. The hassles are usually over a birth Certificate not being clear enough...they have to be able to read every word...they will run your car plate in their computers and check for warrants from whatever state it is from. Your friends could try crossing at the main crossing and if it does not work wait an hour and go down to the surrey one.
Good luck...
Cat

[del...]

it's been a couple years since i've dealt with canadian/usa customs but my many experiences with them at vancouver have always been: piece of cake going into canada. their customs people are more like greeters or hosts-hostesses...never had more than, "business or pleasure...?" asked of me. but they would be a bit bossy...telling me to 'have a good day, eh!" and all that...

but coming home was ALWAYS a hassle...especially when i don't have my birth certificate! a driver's license, ccw permit, ss card...all that was never enough w/o catching grief...

good luck

[Porkchop]

Hmm I have taken the ferry a lot from Seattle and did not get checked as much as at the peace arch but maybe I just got lucky.

my family lived in BC but worked in the US so we had to cross the border everyday and deal with those guys 2 and 3 times a day. So I can tell you they can be assholes.

My son got a misdameanor in the US and the canadians would not let him cross the border to get home. We had to pay someone to take him on a boat. I guess it will just depend on the person you get.

The main crossing Peace Arch is the worse...As you drive east you'll hit the truck crossing....keep going east and you will hit the surrey crossing. It is small kinda out in the country. With passports they should be ok. The hassles are usually over a birth Certificate not being clear enough...they have to be able to read every word...they will run your car plate in their computers and check for warrants from whatever state it is from. Your friends could try crossing at the main crossing and if it does not work wait an hour and go down to the surrey one.
Good luck...
Cat

Hey cat, im sorry to keep bothering u with these questions, but my friend is with me now and he wants me to ask some more things! Ur son got a misdameanor in the states and they wouldn't let him go back to the states? that sounds kind of fishy. And the car that will be used will be a rent-a-car! Do u have any more advice about how to go about it? Like how he should dress, where to keep the luggage? Anything like that?? I will be waiting to hear from u, thanx again!!

[Porkchop]

it's been a couple years since i've dealt with canadian/usa customs but my many experiences with them at vancouver have always been: piece of cake going into canada. their customs people are more like greeters or hosts-hostesses...never had more than, "business or pleasure...?" asked of me. but they would be a bit bossy...telling me to 'have a good day, eh!" and all that...

but coming home was ALWAYS a hassle...especially when i don't have my birth certificate! a driver's license, ccw permit, ss card...all that was never enough w/o catching grief...

good luck

Thanx for the info del, but I don't think he plans on coming home for a few yrs, seeing as how he knows people there he will be living with, and he is talking about getting a visa to go to school, like he has done before when he went to europe, he got a visa to go to school in the UK when he had warrants! where did u enter?

[del...]

cool...hope he realizes those charges won't go away and becoming a fugitive may bring on felony charges too, definitely add to what's already there. sorry to be a buzzkill...just something to think about. maybe he knows a lawyer he can ask such things?

us customs has become pretty much the same all over now but i've mostly used the vancouver port of entry. niagra falls, but that was a couple decades ago and i'm sure it's of no never-mind now...

[BlueCat]

My son got caught with 1 joint in Blaine Washington...
We lived in Canada and the Canadians would not let him cross to come home until all his court stuff was over so we had to pay a guy to sneak him in on a boat. We lived on the water. After court when he was found guilty they said it was to their discretion as to if he could cross. Sometimes they let him other times they didn't. We complained to the main office but it did no good.
My son has a smart mouth though...so just be very polite and no matter how mad you might feel don't let them know it. There are some nice guards too.
Make sure you keep your rental car receipt...

Whatever you do don't have any weed or pipes or anything on you. No alcohol and absolutely NO WEAPON of any kind.
They will ask you if you are bringing anything into Canada...if you have luggage then say you do...they will probably want to go through it.
It will be the same thing going back into the US on the other side.

Canadian cops are no where near as anal as the border guards...You will have fun once you are across
but the Blaine police on the US side are terrible. They will give you a ticket for anything including driving too SLOW...
let me know how it goes...so where are you going in BC?

[Porkchop]

If anyone else has any info. about this, it would be very much appreciated, and everything that is said is taken in and analyzed. I mostly want to know how the border partols are after 9/11, seeing as how I have been searching other websites for this guy, and alot of them say since 9/11 it has gotten really difficult to enter Canada, so I would like to know from ur past experiences in entering how it is. My friend has a birth certificate, passport, state id, and social security card...

[Porkchop]

where are you going in BC?

im not going anywhere in BC it is my friend, and I don't think he would like me to say where he plans on going. Honestly, if he looks nice, and has nothing to hide(except for his warrants) do u think it will be ok?