I am looking to enter Canada from USA as my PR card has expired. What is the procedure. I have a valid US visa B1/B2. Do I have to rent a Car or my family member can come and pick up. Also do we have to tell us customs that we are transiting us and going to Canada. Please share your experience.
Entering Canada from US
- Thread starter ranjan05
- Start date
What is the procedure?
You need to have CoPR with you
Do I have to rent a Car or my family member can come and pick up?
Not a deciding factor, rental car or relative's car does not impact your admissibility
Recommended course of action would be PRTD, not transiting via USA...
Good luck! Do share your US immigration story when you get time! Your entry to Canada will be smooth, I have entered Canada many time without PR card...
COPR is not actually mandatory, it's just highly recommended. Even with just a passport, CBSA can determine your PR status but this would probably require a trip to secondary inspection. Having the COPR on hand can help speed up the process and possibly just be waved through by the 1st officer you encounter.
Alternatively if one doesn't have COPR, other documents like an expired PR card, proof of renewal app in progress or approved, etc can also help.
Important issue to consider entering via US;
If you enter US on a B1/B2 ; what will u tell the US officer about your purpose? If you will tell him you are entering US
to go to Canada by land then he may not let you enter US. If you will tell him something else, then you may have problems
entering US from Canada on your return trip. As you will have to leave US by air to have your departure from US recorded
correctly.
I have traveled in US several times, at least 5-6, with the intention to cross over to Canada. I have B1/B2 visa. I mentioned that to the officer when asked. Never had any problems.A couple of times he asked to see the PR card which was valid at that time. I haven't done after the expiry of PR card.
There is some agreement between US and Canada to record the movement of non US and Canadians, even by road travels. So if a person crosses over to Canada by road from US, the CBSA does pass that data to US authorities.
Mats, Thanks for your reply.
There are two issues here;
1. One is the expiry of PR card. The reason here to use land crossing is because PR card is expired , so if the US agent at US entry wants to see
the card and it is expired , so it could be a problem.
2. second is , to correctly record arrival departure from US , if one enters US by air then one must leave US by air. Previously US used to have I-94 cards for visitors which you could give to the CBSA land border agent when crossing to Canada but now they have abandoned those for the electronic system.
https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/1674/~/report-departure-if-entering-by-air-and-departing-by-land
Correct me if I am missing something.
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My wife PR card will be expiring this month and she plans to travel by air to Seattle and cross to Canada by road.We plan to show that e-cas status print out to show renewal is in process. That should be enough I guess.
Non- US/Canadian citizens traveling to Canada via land, CBSA share that info with US CBP and vice versa.
I have flown into US and crossed to Canada by private vehicle. My US FOIA report does show the entry into Canada part. There is some inconsistency though for a few of the entries , maybe the reason you mentioned could be that.
Can anybody share his actual experience for transiting thru US for going to Canada on Expired PR Card. I think it will be no problem if you tell US customs your correct reason that you are going to Canada in a private car. We can show them PR card renewal aplication status if asked. please share your actual experience. Also where to find Canadian plate rental car in Buffalo.
Because rental companies in the US rent US vehicles, and rental companies in Canada rent Canadian vehicles.
You can do something similar as the poster below:
http://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/great-experience-of-entering-canada-through-rainbow-bridge-with-a-two-year-expired-pr-card.512865/