Daily commute (Detroit-Windsor) (H1b and Canada PR)

[DEEPCUR]

Hi Guys,

I started crossing border from past few days for some social distancing work in automotive manufacturing (non essential business but essential work). I am not facing any issues at Detroit or Windsor side. Its just while coming back, first time they will ask for all the details including why we went to US (they will write it down in our profile), phone number, email address, company name. After that, all these details automatically pop up when they scan our PR card.

thanks for the update. Are you not required to quarantine for 14 days after entering Canada?

 

[BhargavDadhaniya]

thanks for the update. Are you not required to quarantine for 14 days after entering Canada?

Yes. We have to quarantine ourself in the house. They give us a mandatory quarantine details in 1 pager.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Yes. We have to quarantine ourself in the house. They give us a mandatory quarantine details in 1 pager.

So do you commute once in every 14 days after quarantine? Like once you return to Canada , you quarantine for 14 days and then again travel to US on 15th day?

 

[BhargavDadhaniya]

So do you commute once in every 14 days after quarantine? Like once you return to Canada , you quarantine for 14 days and then again travel to US on 15th day?

No. I have to go 2 or 3 days a week. They understand that and ask us not to go anywhere else during quarantine. They give us guidelines on a piece of paper.

 

[SAM09072019]

Hello,

I have a question related to Canada's driving license. I am moving to Canada and would be bringing my car ( Export to Canada) and will register with the Canada DMV office. as far as I believe I would need Canada's driving license to register my car and get Canada insurance. I am holding a US license right now and My employer wants to me hold some kind of residence and driving license for Visa purpose to prove that I live in the US. I would be doing Mon-Fri in the US and back to my family in Canada on Sat and Sunday. Can I hold two driving licenses one from Canada and one from the US? I was reading some blogs they were mentioning about the surrender of US license to get the Canada license whereas I talked to Canadian citizens, who work on TN visa in the US and have a residence in the US told me that you can hold a driving license from both countries.
Does anyone experienced the same situation or holding both the DL's? Did you ever face any problem?

 

[DEEPCUR]

Hello,

I have a question related to Canada's driving license. I am moving to Canada and would be bringing my car ( Export to Canada) and will register with the Canada DMV office. as far as I believe I would need Canada's driving license to register my car and get Canada insurance. I am holding a US license right now and My employer wants to me hold some kind of residence and driving license for Visa purpose to prove that I live in the US. I would be doing Mon-Fri in the US and back to my family in Canada on Sat and Sunday. Can I hold two driving licenses one from Canada and one from the US? I was reading some blogs they were mentioning about the surrender of US license to get the Canada license whereas I talked to Canadian citizens, who work on TN visa in the US and have a residence in the US told me that you can hold a driving license from both countries.
Does anyone experienced the same situation or holding both the DL's? Did you ever face any problem?

Is your employer okay with soft copy of your license? If so, then you can just take a copy of US license that you have and share it with your employer. Even though Canadian DMV takes your US license, it doesn't do anything revoke it. Your US license continues to remain active even after they take it. If you physically need US license, you could just report your license as lost in US DMV and get a new copy to your US address. Other than doing this, I don't see any other way to keep both country license if you are living in Canada.

I am not sure what Canadian citizens do, but my guess is US DMVs don't take back the Canadian license from the applicants while exchanging and it let it be with them. That way, it might be possible to keep license in both countries.

 

[harirajmohan]

Hello,

I have a question related to Canada's driving license. I am moving to Canada and would be bringing my car ( Export to Canada) and will register with the Canada DMV office. as far as I believe I would need Canada's driving license to register my car and get Canada insurance. I am holding a US license right now and My employer wants to me hold some kind of residence and driving license for Visa purpose to prove that I live in the US. I would be doing Mon-Fri in the US and back to my family in Canada on Sat and Sunday. Can I hold two driving licenses one from Canada and one from the US? I was reading some blogs they were mentioning about the surrender of US license to get the Canada license whereas I talked to Canadian citizens, who work on TN visa in the US and have a residence in the US told me that you can hold a driving license from both countries.
Does anyone experienced the same situation or holding both the DL's? Did you ever face any problem?

H1 doesnt require US residency. My h1 file always has Canadian address at I129 form and no issue in getting extension and with extended I94. All uscis cares is that home address is in commutable distance if candidate is a commuter. But employer should not be advising to hold both driver license when only one should be in place. if you get caught at the border then it will be issue, even the cops inside doesnt like to see both licenses (to avoid fraud they worry about) - have heard more scrutiny when caught.

Canadian side they will take away your US license.
US side: seems like it depends on the officer. when my colleague went to dmv to get the US license, canadian license was returned to one but for some other person, the Canadian license was cut(in corner).

Residency in US doesnt mean you should have driver license. Many H1 guys dont have license. You cant prove with something else?

 

[SAM09072019]

H1 doesnt require US residency. My h1 file always has Canadian address at I129 form and no issue in getting extension and with extended I94. All uscis cares is that home address is in commutable distance if candidate is a commuter. But employer should not be advising to hold both driver license when only one should be in place. if you get caught at the border then it will be issue, even the cops inside doesnt like to see both licenses (to avoid fraud they worry about) - have heard more scrutiny when caught.

Canadian side they will take away your US license.
US side: seems like it depends on the officer. when my colleague went to dmv to get the US license, canadian license was returned to one but for some other person, the Canadian license was cut(in corner).

Residency in US doesnt mean you should have driver license. Many H1 guys dont have license. You cant prove with something else?

My employer doesn't allow the Non-US address or Canada address on US payroll. though they are ok as long as I show US residence proof and stay in the US from Mon till Friday and going back to meet the family to Canada on my expense over the weekend. Its not the immigration issue or H1 extension issue. as per HR policy, they will not accept any Non-US residence proof or ID. I was reading some blogs on Quora, TN workers in the US required to have US license in some states to drive a car though they hold Canada license. it means they would be holding two licenses. some of them have got vacation property and US license plate car kept in the US. they must need to have a US license to own a US car. Really confused if we can have two licenses.

 

[SAM09072019]

Is your employer okay with soft copy of your license? If so, then you can just take a copy of US license that you have and share it with your employer. Even though Canadian DMV takes your US license, it doesn't do anything revoke it. Your US license continues to remain active even after they take it. If you physically need US license, you could just report your license as lost in US DMV and get a new copy to your US address. Other than doing this, I don't see any other way to keep both country license if you are living in Canada.

I am not sure what Canadian citizens do, but my guess is US DMVs don't take back the Canadian license from the applicants while exchanging and it let it be with them. That way, it might be possible to keep license in both countries.

True, I heard the same that US DMV doesn't take back Canada DL. However does anyone tried of getting US license mentioning it is lost after surrendering to Canada DMV

 

[DEEPCUR]

My employer doesn't allow the Non-US address or Canada address on US payroll. though they are ok as long as I show US residence proof and stay in the US from Mon till Friday and going back to meet the family to Canada on my expense over the weekend. Its not the immigration issue or H1 extension issue. as per HR policy, they will not accept any Non-US residence proof or ID. I was reading some blogs on Quora, TN workers in the US required to have US license in some states to drive a car though they hold Canada license. it means they would be holding two licenses. some of them have got vacation property and US license plate car kept in the US. they must need to have a US license to own a US car. Really confused if we can have two licenses.

Sometimes when you know that there aren't any legal issues or any data privacy issues, you should just follow don't ask, don't tell policy. Like you could just give a US address (of your's if you have an apartment or any of your friends if they are in that area) and continue commuting. You could just tell your employer that your family lives in Canada and you visit them many a times. Why should you be so candid with your plans? Even now, you don't have call out your exact moving time and leave things the way it is.

in all my years in US, I have never seen an employer forcibly requesting a residence proof for anything. Employers generally ask for license as a proof of identification and not as a proof of residence. Passports are always an option for such situations.

 

[harirajmohan]

My employer doesn't allow the Non-US address or Canada address on US payroll. though they are ok as long as I show US residence proof and stay in the US from Mon till Friday and going back to meet the family to Canada on my expense over the weekend. Its not the immigration issue or H1 extension issue. as per HR policy, they will not accept any Non-US residence proof or ID. I was reading some blogs on Quora, TN workers in the US required to have US license in some states to drive a car though they hold Canada license. it means they would be holding two licenses. some of them have got vacation property and US license plate car kept in the US. they must need to have a US license to own a US car. Really confused if we can have two licenses.

TN workers in the US, whoever moved, should have US license. Most states want you to have one license to avoid any fraud. But its not strictly imposed in states and it depends on the officer who deals with it at that time. Same dmv was taking back and another time it returned without punching holes. My colleagues do have just Canadian license for decades. So there is no requirement for driving license based on visa or for just TN.
I am not sure why you assume that Canadians hold 2 licenses. There is no need for 2 licenses first of all for visa purpose. Not everyone has houses/condos/friends in both countries to get an address to get license. Driving license get issued based on your resident country and nothing to do with your visa type in one country.

I still dont get on the necessity of 2 licenses except of instances such as your company. Rest of them dont hold 2 licenses as its headache to maintain and none of the state/province encourage you to hold as i dont even see this as legal. if its specific to your situation then just go with what was told earlier in this forum to get US license after getting Canadian license.

 

[SAM09072019]

TN workers in the US, whoever moved, should have US license. Most states want you to have one license to avoid any fraud. But its not strictly imposed in states and it depends on the officer who deals with it at that time. Same dmv was taking back and another time it returned without punching holes. My colleagues do have just Canadian license for decades. So there is no requirement for driving license based on visa or for just TN.
I am not sure why you assume that Canadians hold 2 licenses. There is no need for 2 licenses first of all for visa purpose. Not everyone has houses/condos/friends in both countries to get an address to get license. Driving license get issued based on your resident country and nothing to do with your visa type in one country.

I still dont get on the necessity of 2 licenses except of instances such as your company. Rest of them dont hold 2 licenses as its headache to maintain and none of the state/province encourage you to hold as i dont even see this as legal. if its specific to your situation then just go with what was told earlier in this forum to get US license after getting Canadian license.

Thank you for the information. This is helpful. one more option, I would like the viewpoint. If I don't show my US driving license and only provide US driving history ( 6 years). Would it be considered for G license or I need to go through the Written and Road test?

 

[SAM09072019]

Sometimes when you know that there aren't any legal issues or any data privacy issues, you should just follow don't ask, don't tell policy. Like you could just give a US address (of your's if you have an apartment or any of your friends if they are in that area) and continue commuting. You could just tell your employer that your family lives in Canada and you visit them many a times. Why should you be so candid with your plans? Even now, you don't have call out your exact moving time and leave things the way it is.

in all my years in US, I have never seen an employer forcibly requesting a residence proof for anything. Employers generally ask for license as a proof of identification and not as a proof of residence. Passports are always an option for such situations.

I agree with you. Just trying to explore the situation and cover my tracks in case HR and employer immigration teams become so picky. they are notorious for being picky and do the things.

 

[DEEPCUR]

I agree with you. Just trying to explore the situation and cover my tracks in case HR and employer immigration teams become so picky. they are notorious for being picky and do the things.

sure, only if you let the cat out of the bag. otherwise, nobody even cares!

 

[harirajmohan]

Thank you for the information. This is helpful. one more option, I would like the viewpoint. If I don't show my US driving license and only provide US driving history ( 6 years). Would it be considered for G license or I need to go through the Written and Road test?

You certainly have option to get license with/without exchanging the license. Yes you would need both tests for G2/G.
https://www.ontario.ca/page/exchange-out-province-drivers-licence