alsoufij said:
Hi,
I'm a new PR resident but I haven't received my card in the mail yet. I'm planning a trip to new york for 3 days, and I understand that its possible to reenter canada without the PR card if I get a rental car, but not via commercial travel. However, I'm unable to do so because I don't have a driver's license, nor do i have relatives who can pick me up. Is it possible to exit the NYC->Toronto bus before the border and get a taxi to cross, or even walk across with my CoPR?
Thanks in advance!
Important Distinctions:
Apart from any exit controls in the country a PR is leaving, when embarking on a trip to Canada, travel to Canada involves two distinct screening steps:
-- when boarding commercial transportation destined for Canada
-- the POE examination
There are different rules governing what documentation will suffice for these respective screenings. Moreover, the carrier conducts the pre-boarding screening pursuant to the carrier's individual practices, and not all carriers approach this screening the same.
Additionally, it warrants noting with some emphasis,
the new eTA requirements apply to AIR travel NOT to travel via other commercial carriers.
Thus, for example, a visa-exempt passport probably suffices for boarding a bus in NY destined for Toronto. For a Canadian PR whose passport is not visa-exempt, my guess is that passport plus CoPR will work, but I am not confident, let alone sure about this. This would be something to clarify with the particular carrier (again, not all carriers will necessarily approach this the same).
Some clarifying observations:
I do not know how taxi service between the U.S. and Canada is regulated. There are numerous local transporation services in the Niagara region which advertise cross-border services, offering a range of services which typically include various types of shuttle service (such as shuttle service from airports on one side of the border to destinations on the other side). My guess is that
some taxi services are specifically licensed or otherwise authorized to provide cross-border services and that the operator will screen passengers for proper documentation before the trip begins.
But what documentation would be required for a Canadian PR I am not sure. My sense is that a
visa-exempt passport will suffice. Regarding a Canadian PR whose passport is not visa-exempt, my not-so-confident guess is that a passport plus the CoPR will suffice. Especially if individual/personal taxi service (versus shuttle or group limo service) is available.
Reminder: The main problem arising from not having a PR card or PR Travel Document is about
boarding commercial transportation destined for Canada. The commercial carrier is required to screen passengers
before boarding to assure they have travel documents meeting certain requirements.
Thus, for example, there is no reason to do this:
Is it possible to exit the NYC->Toronto bus before the border and get a taxi to cross . . .
That is, if you are allowed to board a bus destined for Toronto, just stay on the bus.
If traveling from NYC and you are uncertain what documentation will suffice to board a bus destined for Toronto, you could take a bus from NYC to Buffalo or Niagara Falls, NY, and in Buffalo as well as in Niagara Falls, NY, there are numerous local cross-border services.
Worst case scenario, as discussed above, is local transportation to the American side of the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, NY, and a walk across the bridge.
But I doubt it need come to that. A personal transportation service (taxi or shuttle) has fairly low liability, since the vehicle and passenger can simply be turned back at the POE, in effect turning around and driving back to the U.S. side. I believe that a personal (but still commercial) transportation provider will take a passenger wanting to cross the border if the passenger assures the operator he or she has proper paperwork and status for entering Canada . . . passport plus CoPR for example.
Yes, Uber is still
commercial. I have no idea to what extent Uber requires its providers to comply with legal formalities like complying with requirements for commercial border crossings. I would somewhat fear I'd get the Uber driver who does not comply and does not do the necessary paperwork for crossing the border commercially, and being the passenger the one time that Uber driver gets tangled up in the formalities at the POE.
Personal experience crossing border by taxi:
I do not know precisely what services are available at the NY/Niagara region frontier these days (lots are advertised) . . . in the old days taking a taxi across the border was no big deal but things have changed a lot in the last two decades, and perhaps since the last time I did that.
My most recent taxi-like experience was a few years ago going the other way, into the U.S. (and not in the Niagara region, but still from Ontario). The service called itself a "shuttle" service and it provided service to specific destinations the other side of the border (that is, not to just any address, but the possible destinations included various transportation facilities the other side of the border). However, it did provide individual, personal service, as in I hired the "shuttle" (a mini-van style vehicle typically seen being used for airport taxi services) for me individually.
The operator questioned me fairly closely about having proper travel documents (for entering the U.S.) but he did not ask to inspect them. The POE examination, in contrast, was on the more confrontational and aggressive side of what I have typically encountered, not too severe but surprisingly in-depth and intense in tone. But in my experience that is not uncommon on the U.S. side.
