Travelling across USA and Canada

clearz

Hi

I have some friends living in Vancouver in Canada. In the summer I am going over to meet them and then go travelling with them down the west coast of the USA accrss the south, back up the east coast and then back across Canada again to Vancouver.
I am worried about the borders into the USA. Will there be hastle me being Irish trying to enter the USA from Canada. My friends say all you need is to show your return flight and you'll be fine. Has anyone done anything similar. Can they verify this for me?

Thanks
John.

Tom Dunne

clearz wrote:

I am worried about the borders into the USA. Will there be hastle me being Irish trying to enter the USA from Canada. My friends say all you need is to show your return flight and you'll be fine. Has anyone done anything similar. Can they verify this for me?

Hmmm, I did this the opposite way - i.e. going from the US to Vancouver. Going into Canda it wasn't a problem, coming back there was a very angry border guard. Of course my hung-over nervous rambling didn't help. But we had a valid US visa, even then the US border guard gave us a bit of a grilling.

I would imagine you will have to go through the same visa waiver procedure as you would if you were flying direct from Ireland to the US. I don't see why it would be any different if you were travelling from Canada.

They way things are right now, don't rely on "my friends told me" and some vague answers on an internet bulletin board. Get onto the US government website, you should find the answers there. Worst case scenario, you would have to fill out a few forms at the border crossing. But just make sure and do it right.

boardy

John: Give the U.S. consulate a call. I know of some Irish people who got into serious difficulty crossing into the States from Canada on the East coast. And they were just going on a day visit.

Our man in Havana

The visa Wavier does not apply to land entry. You need an actual US visa to enter via land border.

clearz

I was just on to the American consulate there and they said that as long as Im not staying for more than 90 days then I dont need a visa. And all I need to show at the border is a machine readable passport and my return ticket from Canada and that I have enough cash to do me while im in the USA. Sweet

Benedict XVI

Bond-007 wrote:

The visa Wavier does not apply to land entry. You need an actual US visa to enter via land border.

Not sure if that is teh case.

I know lots of Irish visitors who went to Montreal from Boston by car.
The US border and Canadian had no problems with them as they had the green visa waiver cards stapled to their passports showing that they had entered the US that way and were returining that way. I am sure it works the same way in reverse

OP, If you will be leaving Canada less that 90 days after you are entering the USA, I'd advise bringing the return ticket that you are leaving Canada with , this will show that you have arrangemnets to be out of the US (i.e. in Canada) within 90 days

[EDIT] Just saw OPs reply based on call to consulate, sorry for repetitive info [/EDIT]

Our man in Havana

You are quite correct your Holiness.

The problems arise if you flew say into Montreal and drove to Boston. They will be demanding a US visa in that situation.

There is no problem if you fly into the US on a visa wavier and then went to canada and came back. They will just inspect the green card and off you go.

clearz

Bond-007 wrote:

The problems arise if you flew say into Montreal and drove to Boston. They will be demanding a US visa in that situation.

That is what im basically doing (Canada-USA in car) and the American consulate told me I dont need a Visa.

Benedict XVI

Bond-007 wrote:

You are quite correct your Holiness.

The problems arise if you flew say into Montreal and drove to Boston. They will be demanding a US visa in that situation.

There is no problem if you fly into the US on a visa wavier and then went to canada and came back. They will just inspect the green card and off you go.

Why would they have different rules for land entry and air entry.

Exit

I've driven into the US from the Canadian side a couple of times, and all you need is your passport, your return flight ticket and there's something like a US$10 fee, but that may have gone up since I last went in 2002. You might want to check things out first though, because they may have changed the rules for what you need to cross.

The last time I went, I didn't bring my return flight ticket with me, so I was given a bit of a grilling (and it's difficult when they don't understand your accent (a normal Dub accent in my case), but I was eventually allowed to go through.

Just don't go overboard buying duty free stuff (on either side), and make sure to mention exactly what you have and how much you have when asked, otherwise if they find you've been dishonest, they'll just take the stuff off you and you'll have a black mark by your name for any future visits.