PROBLEMS CROSSING THE U.S.-CANADA BORDER
 

Hey everyone, I'm super new to this website don't know if i'm posting this in the right place and what not; but i have a very IMPORTANT QUESTION to ask you guys.So... About the summertime of last year, i went to the states for a huge convention my business was hosting, and it took awhile while i got across the border :s. So when I was up to talk to the border crossing guard, the guard asked me all the normal questions and i stumbled on the one "why are you going to the states?". I started off saying that i'm going for a convention that my company is hosting and so on. AND THEN, LONG STORY SHORT, for some reason, i said that "i was getting paid while I was the convention" (FOR NO REASON I LIED TO THEM). It wasn't too long before he told me that "i wasn't allow to do that (get paid in the states). After a 2 hr waiting and questioning they let me go on to the convention. Although I admitted that it was all my fault I'm just super worried about my future situations when I have to cross the us-canada border.

NOW, its been just over a year and I have yet to go back to the states because i'm scared that they will give me a hard time. I was contemplating If I should just try crossing the border by myself to see if they will give me a hard time or not OR if i should just wait until the next i go with my friends and see if I get into a hard time then???

Do you guys have any suggestions what I should do???

Either you're flagged or you're not. You're going to want to go to the states, eventually. Just pick a day, during the week, when it's not busy, and cross over and see what happens. Tell them you're going to get gas, and you'll be there less than 1 hour.

what does it mean to be "flagged"?.... Does that mean like I have to get out of the car like everytime i have to cross the border? Or does it just mean like they just ask me more questions?

Its just gonna suck that everytime i go to the states with my friends that, I have to get outta the car (assuming that i'm flagged)

If ur flagged. Everytime u cross the boarder fucking board patrol will harass u.
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LOL. Thanks Jayboogz. I'm kinda reluctant to ask this question but wut do you mean by "harrass"? examples? Just so i'm aware of what to expect when i'm at the border.

I'll share my experience on being 'flagged' as according to the US customs guard at YVR. I've had a nexus for for the last 5 years and from day one of having it I was always harassed at the border whether it be land or air. Never asked what the problem was I just complied, let them search my car, or do what they needed to do. I'm not about to piss them off.

It didn't matter how frequently I went (for golfing mostly) whether it was twice a week to once a month or once every 6 months, i always got questions. It also didn't matter who I was with either. One day I went grocery shopping with my parents who also have nexus passes and they got pulled over. The one and only time they get pulled over was when I was in the car with them.

This went on for 5 years and finally the one time at YVR, I was flying to LA to watch the Canucks play in the playoffs, I did my retina scan started to walk through and immediately 3 US border guards told me to go with them. I sort of got fed up after 5 years of dealing with this and just asked in a polite way 'why am i always being stopped?' and it turns out according to the border guard in her own words, I was flagged. Not me specifically but someone profiled similar to me (age, first name, ethnicity, nexus pass holder). The border guard told me she will clear the flag and I will never be harassed for this again.

From that day forward I've never been 'flagged' at the border again. It's a totally different situation than you are in, but I guess all I"m trying to say is that if they have something on you it will most likely still be linked to you until you get it resolved.

Again these are totally different situations and circumstances... Hope this helps..

Seems like a relatively minor misunderstanding. I wouldn't worry about it too much.
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Thanks blum2001, that was super helpful! Kinda sucks that the only way to find out if your flagged or not is to try crossing the border. :P

It does suck, and yes the only way to find out is to cross.

I was always harassed. Apparently there was a guy from ontario who had a warrant out for his arrest/some complication with the law and he had the same/similar name as me, except he was in his late 40's.

I constantly got harassed (by canadian customs) until one day the canadian guard asked me "do you usually get stopped when you cross the border?" and I told him yes, and I explained to him the situation -- how for the past 2 years every time I go to the border, they call me inside, question me for a few minutes and let me go after explaining to me that it was a case of mistaken identity. The guard wrote something down and ever since then I don't get stopped/harassed :fullofwin:

Well I don't have any examples. But they will give u a hard time, question you about things. some boarder agents r nice but some r assholes..
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OP, I've crossed the border many times for business meetings, the trick is to make them aware that you are NOT "working" in the US. Next time just tell them you're going to attend a company conference. Do not make it seem like you're working the conference. The difference is subtle to us, yet huge to them.

When you told them you're getting paid to go that was a big no-no. They assumed the conference was paying you to attend, which means you're making money in the US, taking jobs away from Americans, and they are going to question you about it.

I've been secondary screened many times, it sucks, yet it happens. Doesn't mean its going to happen everytime, sometimes its just random.

Ya.... Taylor192. I totally understand you. I even PROVED (emails & papers) to them that I was NOT getting paid to go to the conference, even though i did say that I am! :s

I am flagged but on the Canada side... Every time I come back from the states I pull up, they ask me the basic questions, then I know... they will hand me a slip, and I go in for inspection. Then they search my car, and ask me more detailed questions. My situation was quite severe so they do a more intense investigation every time.

I am not 100% sure but I can only imagine that the states does it the same. Honestly, if you are flagged, it is what it is. Just wait until next time you go with your friends but stress to them that you MAY be flagged so they should be super careful with what they bring. It will be a guaranteed basic search so if they find one bag of weed and you guys are going to jail. Don't be too paranoid, if you are nervous take a deep breath and blow on the tip of your thumb to slow your heart rate. lol I read that somewhere as a lifehack.

Is there a polar opposite of being flagged. Can you be marked, "wave through", or something? My exchanges with the border guards is usually 30 seconds or less.

^ sounds about right for an average crossing

very simple solution to your problem - next time don't lie :)

hey guys, i have a question here. so when coming back from seattle, i used the nexus lane to get to the american duty free shop close to the border. a blaine cop pulled me over and handed me a ticket for illegally using the nexus lane. my argument was that i wasnt trying to cut in line but to get to the duty free shop. he said the PROPER WAY to do that is to wait on the non nexus line and then on the open pathway to the duty free shop, turn and cross 3 lanes into the duty free shop. WTF? Secondly there is not clear directions how to properly cross into other duty free store and to make us wait on the slow lane and then turning in doesnt make sense.

OP,

PM me and I'll drive you across the border, and we'll see how it goes.


:accepted:

That, and for that reason alone is why you got harassed.

I cannot count how many times i have talked to people who got harassed , questioned, even denied entry in the USA.

Pretty much, you are in their country, on their soil, getting paid for work and that is a threat to the USA economy as you are stealing jobs and $ from the American people.

Sounds stupid, but google it and you will find it is a very common thing.

Doesn't even matter if you are being paid by a Canadian company , by showing up and "working" in the USA, you are a threat to them.

You are lucky they didn't ban you and make you get a work visa.

i understood why i got harrassed lol! And ya, it was very stupid on my part. But I'm just worried about my future goin to the states, crossing the border. Basically I'm just wondering if what i did is "serious" enough that they "flagged" me or was it just a one time thing, because I screwed up at that time. Was sorta hopeing someone else was in the same situation, or if someone know at when do border patrols flag people? how serious does the situation have to be?

OP:

http://troll.me/images/paranoid-parr...oid-parrot.jpg

I'm flagged on the American side, I don't cross the border any more, period.

I'd rather not go into my personal experience and why the border guards like to spend time with me, but I'd be happy to share a couple of my friends experiences.

S - A good friend of mine and her sister tried crossing at Aldergrove, for of course, shopping. At 19 years old, driving a modified Honda, I guess she was extremely suspicious looking. They cut open the back of her seats, removed all her speakers, questioned her, and after finding nothing let her go with a box full of her removed stereo components.

C - Another good friend of mine crossing at Sumas, 23 years old with no criminal record, he was pulled over for the extra chat some people get. That chat eventually escalated to completely irrational questions, and the climax, he was shown a bag full of grass clippings and told it was found in the car. The guards insinuated that the grass clippings were weed, correcting them that they were actually grass clippings, they then asked how he could possibly know what weed looks like... he must be a drug trafficker if he can distinguish between drugs and dried up grass.

What did you do to get "flagged", if you do mind sharing of course. Was what you did anything similar to what I did? Argh.... so paranoid!

It's kind of ridiculous, but it's not worthwhile going into.