Re-entering the USA from Canada by car

Our man in Havana

Are there any problems re-entering the USA from Canada by car? I am planning on driving up to Vancouver from Seattle and returning 3 or 4 days later. Are there are problems with US customs to be worried about?

Tom Dunne

Not really, though I did find the border crossing guard on the US side extremely aggressive.

I did that exact trip over the 4th of July long weekend two years ago. As I had a working visa, they did not take the green card thing from my passport (the card that they normally take when leaving the country by air to prove you actually left).

Driving into Canada wasn't a problem, got the all important Canadian stamp in my passport. Coming back, there are two routes you can go, the main border crossing and a smaller one. We took the smaller one. I was actually quite intimidated by the guard. It probably didn't help that I couldn't easily explain what job I was doing in the US, or maybe he just got out of bed the wrong side, I don't know. But he let us through after a bit of a grilling.

cerebus

tom dunne wrote:

Not really, though I did find the border crossing guard on the US side extremely aggressive.

As pointed out, be prepared for some questions and possibly an aggressive attitude from the American side on the way back into the United States.

They'll want to see that little green thing in your passport on the way back in, as far as I know (they may also possibly want to see proof that you are leaving the US in the form of airline tickets or the like - may be no harm to bring these). They don't appreciate humour for the most part, so my advice would be not to make any jokes about bringing in a load of drugs/guns/bombs/whatever.

Four different crossing points to get into Canada in the Vancouver area - easiest to get to on the I5 from Seattle are the Peace Arch and what they call the "Truck Crossing" (all commercial traffic goes through this one I think).

Listen to the radio as you get close to the border to figure out which one is going to be fastest, and be prepared to wait - can take hours to cross sometimes depending on how busy it is.

Once you're over the border into Canada, take Highway 99 from the Peace Arch - brings you right into downtown Vancouver. If you go through the truck crossing, either head north on 176th St/Pacific Highway to Route 1 (The Transcanada) and then west, or else take a left pretty much straight away once you are through the border (on 8th Avenue I think?) to hit Highway 99.

If you're looking for things to do in Vancouver just say the word - there are a few of us who may have recommendations. For starters, if you have skis, bring them - great conditions on the local hills, and fantastic skiing in Whistler right now.

Our man in Havana

Thanks for all the very useful info. I was concerned that the canadians sometimes don't stamp your passport and that this would cause issues later.

We are heading over in Febuary. We plan on spending 4 days in the Vancouver area. We have no idea what we will do there yet so suggestions would be welcome.

Thanks

upmeath

i crossed the border from vermont into quebec last summer, had no real difficulty, we headed up to a town called magog just east of montreal, came back down about 4 or 5 hours later, the border patrol pulled us in and asked us to come into the office for 5 or 10 minutes because normally when someone crosses its at least a few days before they come back and they thought there was something suspicious, but after 5 or 10 mins in their offices we were back on the road to boston!

Zaph

Make sure you have US dollars in cash on you when you're coming back. About 8 or 9 years ago 4 of us were driving down from Montreal to upstate New York. When we got to the border we were told that because we weren't US or Canadian citizens there was a border levy of (I think) $12 each. Because we had only been in Canada at that stage we had no US currency and they wouldn't accept Canadian, even when we offered significantly more than necessary to be sure we paid enough ("No sir, we couldn't accept that, it wouldn't be fair to you" :rolleyes: ). They didn't accept credit cards either, so a card was stapled into my passport officially denying me entry into the US so I could go back over to the Canadian side and exchange Canadian travellers cheques for US cash. This was purely a procedural thing, we were told that it happened quite a few times each day, and when I got back the card was removed. It doesn't register permanently and I've been back to the States since with no problem, but it was a complete nuisance at the time.

jjbrien

If the Candian Boarder station took your green slip from your passport then you will have to stop and get out of your car when you re-enter. Normally you go into a big buliding you need to have $6 usd per person in cash they do accecpt visa and mastercard but cash is better. It takes about an hour wating in that room for everything to go trough. If you have the green slip then you dont even have to get out of your car you just breese trough like a canadian or us citizon. The time you stay in the boarder station depends on which one you use. Imostly used the peace bridge or most of the crossings near buffalo which are the most busey ones.

Our man in Havana

I think the main point is not to give up the green slip to the canadian customs.

jmayo

A couple of years ago I crossed from Canada (BC) into Alaska and was brought into Customs/Immigration office.
The guy was really friendly and blooming inquesitive. An Irishman in that neck of the woods appeared to be exotic, the guy even started showing me the confiscated smuggled samples they had on display.
Never thought anyone in their right mind would try and smuggle walrus tusks through airport (San Francisco I think) in a suitcase. They are huge.

The guards down on the Washington/BC border south of Kamploops were not as friendly, the post was farily busy and more business like.
He did kind of half break a smile when I told him I had a six pack with me when asked if carrying firearms, tobacco or alcohol.
At quiet border crossing I spent good half an hour chatting to Canadian on way back ino BC south of Castlegar.
It was kind of Irish since he wanted to keep chatting even though queue of 3/4 cars behind me.
The busier the port the more no-nosense they are and less friendly I find as a rule. Then again you could meet mr jobsworth who just wants to make himself feel important.