Man up and just go over. If you got nothing to hide, it'll be no problem. If you are "flagged", it will get removed as soon as you aren't deemed suspicious anymore so the sooner you go over, the sooner it will get removed! Unless you DO have something to hide....

OP
next time going through try not to think about it
sometimes if you think that you are flagged you are only going to make it worse (ie acting all nervous and the customs officer will think something is fishy)

i went across today with my parents and after he handed the passport he opened his door...the guard went "what are you doing?" and my dad's subpar english comprehension levels thought he said "how are you doing" so my dad replied "okay" and then smiled :facepalm:

for all we know he probably thought my dad was pulling out a gun lol

The main thing is, don't say anything unless specifically asked.

........... and whatever you do, don't smile like an idiot. Just be cool. Some people :badpokerface:

I've been thinking of just going up to the border and just finding out what my "status" is.... I've been just super paranoid lately about it. Would it be "smart" to just tell the border patrol officer, when he asks "why i'm going to the states", that I say "I just want to see if you guys are going to give me a hard time or not. OR tell them that I want to find out if i'm flagged or not? Or should i just go to get gas?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated?

If you're planning on going to the border to ask them, then you might as well cross over, and get gas. If you're not flagged, and they're having a douchy kind of day, then they may just flag you for the heck of it! :troll:

Not "smart" to say that; you'd be a "smart"ass to them.
They would see you as wasting their time, to be honest. Knowing whether you are flagged or not won't change a thing when you cross with an actual purpose other than to just cross the border. What happens, happens - right? As long as you have nothing to hide, you needn't worry. They'll search you when they want to search you; you have no control over that.
I thought I was flagged; I always got hassled on both sides of the border. USA side finally let up, but then the Canadian side went harder on me, searching my car even when I had bought nothing. Questions were extensive.
But knowing whether I'm flagged or not doesn't change a damn thing. I'm at their mercy.


Like Presto said, just go for gas.

If you think you've been sent to secondary unnecessarily because you're flagged in their system, you can fill in the Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry form here:

DHS | DHS Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (DHS TRIP)

Just know that it takes quite a while (when I submitted mine, it took about a year to get a response) so it's not immediate. However, with a redress file number it should help a little so at least they can look up your complaint easily and not have to start from scratch (or worse make assumptions) every time you cross.

ya i think i'm gonna do that. But i'm just afraid they might be like "why think fuck is this guy driving 50km to get gas in the states?". Do lots of people go to the states for solely, just gas?

yep, people do that all the time - but not usually from Vancouver. I've thought about bringing my passport along if I have a dinner or something in south surrey - since it's not too far from the border. You could very easily just say you were meeting a friend and you had an empty tank. Just make sure you actually do have an empty tank - and don't show them a receipt for $5 of gas - because you'll definitely be suspicious.

Yeah, go to the border with a bunch of power hungry fancy douchbags and say, "I'm curious if I have flag on my file" because I'm sure you will after you are done.

My gf always mocks me, but I hate crossing the us border. We had to deal with a d-bag years ago when we took my fathers show car across the border who was convinced we were taking it across to sell it. Tossed the car, kept us in a parking lot for an hour looking for a 'for sale' sign. Like they don't have hardware stores in the states.

Its gotten 10x worse in the last decade, and makes me want nothing to do with america.
Posted via RS Mobile

+1 to not telling them you are going over to see if they will search you :facepalm:

That is exactly why they searched you, because you didn't buy anything...they deem that to be suspicious and probe a little further :smug:

Just be polite, concise, and most importantly HONEST.

Contrary to popular belief, the US doesn't flag people for ridiculous reasons such as "He was getting paid to go to a conference" or "He had a stupid hat"

They flag people who are serious threats to the country and the laws of that country



Even if you're paid for another conference, its not like you're going to leave to immigrate to the USA on the money you earn from that conference. You have your family, your home, all your stuff is in Canada. You have a reason to come back.


Don't be afraid of the border guards. They're doing their job, but aren't there to discriminate.

danny87
What hasn't Killed me, has made me more tolerant of RS!
Join Date: Apr 2005

I honestly don't think the OP has anything to worry about. They eventually let him through so it's not like he was denied entry. (actually, they technically don't deny you entry - the form you get will say you withdraw your application to enter the United States - ask me how I know)

In any case, if you frequently go down to the US for work (even if it is for meetings and conferences), I would suggest getting a visa (even just a TN visa) to avoid hassles like this.

Just a heads up since this is RS, the only time I've been hassled was when the Canadian border agent spotted my pedobear decal. Asked me some pretty basic questions, looked through all my phone pics/rs textplus conversations/text messages/etc. to see if I had child porn, also looked through the USB drive plugged into my stereo and just searched in the glovebox etc. (miata; not too much to look through haha)

Overall I didn't mind as they were just doing there job, the guys who searched me were respectful in their questioning and obviously I didn't have any child porn so I didn't really have anything to worry about, I even shook their hands after and told them that I respected what they were doing etc. but I felt like it would be good to let you guys know that the CBSA protocol will give you some difficulties if they notice a blatant pedobear sticker on your car.

I try to avoid going down to point roberts/crossing the border as much as possible since that incident though but when I do I always clear everything off my phone including facebook apps/chat apps/text messages/downloaded music/etc. I'm paranoid like that...

or you could just take that stupid sticker off your car:whistle:

on a related now i've seen trucks around town with upside down american flag bumper sticker..i wonder if they get special treatment going across haaha

I did, Just posted it as a heads up to fellow members. regardless I still choose to reduce the risk of getting hassled as much as I easily can. I also try not to bring anything in my car except for what I need, who knows what might offend them if I keep a messy interior?

I had a US CBP question me why I crossed into the US three times in one day. I explained it to him and he let me go. I had been asked to go inside for secondary inspection, and the officer I was dealing with had been called to another issue after searching my car and left my passport somewhere. It took them nearly another half an hour to realize what they had done and let me go. Happened to my brother as well. Recently CBSA searched him as someone with the same name was wanted by Interpol for an assault charge somewhere in Europe. They realized he wasn't the right person and let him go.

So I crossed today, in the same vehicle with the same friend going to another Seahawks game... and we got secondary screened, again! I asked, and they say it was random, I don't believe it, we'll see if third time is the charm.

I did have a funny moment when they searched my car. I got this as a gag gift a few years ago, its been in my glove box ever since. Lesson learned, don't keep shit like this in your car. Even though its obviously fake, officers do not have a sense of humour. :D

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41N0NLybSsL.jpg
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31Vto01AATL.jpg

Didn't see a question, are you asking for a lup-hol or something?

I hate douche bag border guards, but when they are dumb douche bag border guards it's even worse. I have a student visa to get into the states and a border guard found out I had been in China the past summer and stated the visa was voided and I could be denied entry.

His specific words were "you left the northern hemisphere" without telling us, so your visa is void.

Apparently border guards are also bad at basic geography.

I'm driving down/moving to California next week and taking Peace Arch Crossing. I'll be taking my PC tower with me. Should I worry about CBP withholding my PC tower and scan my files? I have personal picture albums and tons of jpeg libraries of design references.

Unless you have anything illegal or incriminating, there's nothing to worry about, tho consider backing up your files onto an external drive.

There was a court case a while ago about some fellow who bought a HDD on ebay. The seller didn't wipe it out and when CBSA searched the drive, they found child porn. I don't remember the exact case but I recall that the charges were dropped as the buyer did not know what was on the drive and was expecting it to be empty.

Yep....that's right up there with pointing a replica gun at a Cop. Those guys dont have a sense of humour....can't take a joke.