Live in Canada, Work in US, Nexus residency status

[mttst]

I noticed there's a few of you who commute to work in the US while residing in Canada. I'm curious if any of you have done this with a US plated vehicle and used a nexus card. If so, I'm curious if anyone has listed their residency (in the Nexus system) as the US and/or whether that would be concerning for anybody who is looking to count their days in Canada when commuting in this fashion.

The challenge I'm bringing up is when one truly spends half the time in the US and half the time Canada. Does it matter what's listed in the records on paper (in Nexus for ex.) versus where you physically spend your time (and can prove where you are- entry/exit records, bills, receipts etc..)

Thanks.

 

[CanV]

I noticed there's a few of you who commute to work in the US while residing in Canada. I'm curious if any of you have done this with a US plated vehicle and used a nexus card. If so, I'm curious if anyone has listed their residency (in the Nexus system) as the US and/or whether that would be concerning for anybody who is looking to count their days in Canada when commuting in this fashion.

The challenge I'm bringing up is when one truly spends half the time in the US and half the time Canada. Does it matter what's listed in the records on paper (in Nexus for ex.) versus where you physically spend your time (and can prove where you are- entry/exit records, bills, receipts etc..)

Thanks.

I dont understand your question but you are a resident of the city where you have your home, not work. Even if you spend 4 hours sleeping then in the office for 20, you are still a resident of your home is.

 

[mttst]

I dont understand your question but you are a resident of the city where you have your home, not work. Even if you spend 4 hours sleeping then in the office for 20, you are still a resident of your home is.

'..truly spends half the time in the US and half the time Canada..' As in two 'homes' or residences. Pretty much 50:50.

I understand this is a very unique situation, and as such is hard to find info on. I'm curious to hear people's experience who commuted from Canada (for the days spent at a Canadian residence) and whether they had US or Canadian plates and if they used Nexus, how they dealt with residency listed in Nexus (since Canadian 'resident' & US plates can be a conflict- but if you listed US residency, then could it cause problems for 'counting' days in Canada).

Any info appreciated. Thanks.

 

[CanV]

'..truly spends half the time in the US and half the time Canada..' As in two 'homes' or residences. Pretty much 50:50.

I understand this is a very unique situation, and as such is hard to find info on. I'm curious to hear people's experience who commuted from Canada (for the days spent at a Canadian residence) and whether they had US or Canadian plates and if they used Nexus, how they dealt with residency listed in Nexus (since Canadian 'resident' & US plates can be a conflict- but if you listed US residency, then could it cause problems for 'counting' days in Canada).

Any info appreciated. Thanks.

You sleep 50% in US, 50% in Canada? You have a residential address in US as well?

 

[mttst]

in truth, it doesn't matter how accureate/true the situation is- as a hypothetical scenario- 50% +/- 5% depending on the week & where weekends are spent. And yes, with two residences- sleeping 3-4 days at one, 3-4 at the other, depending on the week).

I guess I"m looking for the people who commuted to work from Canada, but spending perhaps a little more time in the US (so they'd have US plates) but resides in Canada as well (could be 4 or 3 days a week)- counting their 'days' in Canada. I'm curious what their experience was in this scenario, including how Nexus fits into this.

I know there aren't many out there, but I did read a few posts of people who did something similar (there was one that talked theoretically about working in Seattle 5 days, living in Canada fri-Sun, counting 3 days). I could go back and try to PM those people, but I thought I'd start an open thread first to see what input there may be..plus some of those posts were from a few years back.

Thanks!

 

[eileenf]

Residents of Canada are not allowed to have US-plated vehicles. Cdn residents driving US plated vehicles can have their cars impounded by RCMP/OPP/SQ if they are pulled over in Canada. Border guards will warn a Cdn PR driving a US car of this at the border. Someone doing this many times would face increasingly higher scrutiny at the Canadian border. One should not be surprised if the CBSA notes this in the file. Such a note might result in secondary scrutiny of future PR card renewal or citizenship applications.

So, my guess is that someone trying to pull this off would show the cop their US drivers licence and present themselves as a US resident, and might present themselves as US residents at the border (i.e. not show PR card).

The problem is that one can't be a Cdn PR for the benefits without accepting the responsibilities. IF the applicant wants to maintain their PR status in Canada (by meeting 2/5 year res. obligation) or qualify for citizenship, their documentation is going to be a mess. Weird border records, US NEXUS address, US work records, a US plated vehicle, RCMP records showing US driver's licence and US vehicle and perhaps the applicant pretending not to be a PR. Two residences, etc. The CIC would be insane not to consider those red flags.

What documentation in this scenario would one have tying them to Canada? A rental contract? Anything else? It's hard to imagine that the Canadian documentation would weigh as heavily as the US documentation. Rental contracts or property owned are not primary evidence of physical presence.

Regarding 50-50% residency in two places at once: this is hard to maintain for years on end and my sense is that people often claim this when they want the benefits of residency in both places but not the responsibilities (i.e. actually living there).

Long story short (and forgive the lack of generosity) but this sounds like bull. And it doesn't look good for getting citizenship or maintaining PR.

 

[mttst]

Residents of Canada are not allowed to have US-plated vehicles. Cdn residents driving US plated vehicles can have their cars impounded by RCMP/OPP/SQ if they are pulled over in Canada. Border guards will warn a Cdn PR driving a US car of this at the border. Someone doing this many times would face increasingly higher scrutiny at the Canadian border. One should not be surprised if the CBSA notes this in the file. Such a note might result in secondary scrutiny of future PR card renewal or citizenship applications.

So, my guess is that someone trying to pull this off would show the cop their US drivers licence and present themselves as a US resident, and might present themselves as US residents at the border (i.e. not show PR card).

The problem is that one can't be a Cdn PR for the benefits without accepting the responsibilities. IF the applicant wants to maintain their PR status in Canada (by meeting 2/5 year res. obligation) or qualify for citizenship, their documentation is going to be a mess. Weird border records, US NEXUS address, US work records, a US plated vehicle, RCMP records showing US driver's licence and US vehicle and perhaps the applicant pretending not to be a PR. Two residences, etc. The CIC would be insane not to consider those red flags.

What documentation in this scenario would one have tying them to Canada? A rental contract? Anything else? It's hard to imagine that the Canadian documentation would weigh as heavily as the US documentation. Rental contracts or property owned are not primary evidence of physical presence.

Regarding 50-50% residency in two places at once: this is hard to maintain for years on end and my sense is that people often claim this when they want the benefits of residency in both places but not the responsibilities (i.e. actually living there).

Long story short (and forgive the lack of generosity) but this sounds like bull. And it doesn't look good for getting citizenship or maintaining PR.

Thanks, I found your post very informative. Just to clear the air, the situation is quite different than what you may think- canadian citizen, offered US job with a J one residency requirement (hence need to record time in Canada). The situation has parallels (it seems) to Cdn PR counting days toward applying for Cdn citizenship- and I have read posts of people in similar situation (except reverse reasons), so seeking to find any advice (couldn't find info elsewhere on the situation I've described- there was quite a bit more here). You brought up some interesting points to be considered- the uncertainty is how much those details you described (challenges, scrutiny- as it should with respect to Canadian immigration) parallels the details involved with a J one issue.

Thank you. Anyone else with additional info/thoughts, please feel free to contribute. Thanks.

 

[dpenabill]

Nonetheless, a couple aspects of the post by eileenf are important.

Among these is the issue of a Canadian resident driving a U.S. registered vehicle into Canada. Sooner or later this will become problematic. While enforcement seems lax, eventually there is a substantial risk the vehicle will be seized. And it will likely become, even before that, something that triggers further scrutiny.

Another is that an individual can only be "resident" of one jurisdiction at a time, and this is true despite the extent to which people in fact use multiple residential addresses relative to different purposes. There is no question about it being OK. It is not. There is some question about to what extent a person can get away with it, which is in many, many contexts, a lot, a real lot. But when it comes to those things relevant to and connected with crossing the border, doing this tends to become a lot more problematic . . . at least eventually.

And, as of this summer Canada is supposed to be keeping track of Canadian citizens cross-border movements, going both ways (exit info as obtained by U.S. entry records), and this is specifically in part for the purpose of better monitoring of benefit entitlements. Whether the program underlying the J-1 U.S. visa is in the scope of this I do not know. But no advanced degrees are necessary to discern what is at risk if the U.S. or Canada discover a person is using different residential addresses in order to remain eligible for the program . . . fraud is not ordinarily a good rung to climb in one's career ladder.

Overall, border crossing (even with Nexus) is increasingly a point of intense monitoring, if not overtly deeply intrusive scrutiny. I have not looked at Bill C-51 in depth, but I believe that some of the regulatory changes recently being proposed in relation to IRPA and the Citizenship Act, regarding inter-agency information sharing, are also related to some of the information sharing provisions in Bill C-51, in the sense that if and when Bill C-51 becomes law, the scope of the information sharing regulatory changes already in process will dramatically expand.

You used the word "conflict," relative to which I would caution that you are probably talking about contradictory information, and if you are the person who is the source of the contradictory information, it bears keeping in mind that since both cannot be true, if they are contradictory, one is ipso facto false, and providing false information in any connection with border crossing is, well, a recipe for things going off the rails, way off the rails.

 

[mttst]

Guys, thanks alot for the info- much more informative than when asking these things with the border agents.

So, ultimately it seems you can only have cars plated to the country you're a 'resident' of. This potential job would have me in two locations, so sounds like I'd have to pick one, with Canada making sense for the residency requirement issue. The job requires a company issued vehicle- so in this case, it sounds like I'd be unable to take it accross the border as a Canadian resident.

Guess I'd have to cross with a cdn plated vehicle and then switch to the US plated one. Someone let me know if that sounds about right. Thanks!

 

[Alurra71]

Guys, thanks alot for the info- much more informative than when asking these things with the border agents.

So, ultimately it seems you can only have cars plated to the country you're a 'resident' of. This potential job would have me in two locations, so sounds like I'd have to pick one, with Canada making sense for the residency requirement issue. The job requires a company issued vehicle- so in this case, it sounds like I'd be unable to take it accross the border as a Canadian resident.

Guess I'd have to cross with a cdn plated vehicle and then switch to the US plated one. Someone let me know if that sounds about right. Thanks!

If the car is company issued that would pose you a problem in and of itself. You don't own the vehicle so it would give you a MAJOR headache to try and cross an international border driving it. The paperwork you would need to provide to CBSA alone is enough to make your teeth hurt just thinking about it! LOL

Depending on where you are crossing the border, lets use Windsor, ON as an example, there is a parking lot just on the other side of the toll booths @ the Ambassador Bridge that is public use. Many folks use it to park and carpool. This would be an ideal situation for your current setup as you could cross in your personal vehicle and pick up your work vehicle and go about your daily routine. No need to pick your personal vehicle back up until you are ready to cross back into Canada. The upside to that is even though it is in Detroit, it is highly unlikely that anyone will mess with it because of the proximity to CBP

As for your nexus card, I don't even know how much of that information they pull. I have a nexus card. I got it before becoming a PR of Canada so it was issued in the US, however, since I was residing with my husband when I finally went to receive my card, they have my residential address listed in Canada. They are capable of doing many things, you just have to show them proof of the situation, and being a Canadian citizen, I am inclined to think your Nexus card would also list that information and use whatever mailing address you give them.

 

[OhCanadiana]

Thanks, I found your post very informative. Just to clear the air, the situation is quite different than what you may think- canadian citizen, offered US job with a J one residency requirement (hence need to record time in Canada). The situation has parallels (it seems) to Cdn PR counting days toward applying for Cdn citizenship- and I have read posts of people in similar situation (except reverse reasons), so seeking to find any advice (couldn't find info elsewhere on the situation I've described- there was quite a bit more here). You brought up some interesting points to be considered- the uncertainty is how much those details you described (challenges, scrutiny- as it should with respect to Canadian immigration) parallels the details involved with a J one issue.

Thank you. Anyone else with additional info/thoughts, please feel free to contribute. Thanks.

Most of the thoughts in this thread have been (naturally) Canadian focused. I think, however, that your biggest hurdle may actually be US-based if I'm understanding the situation correctly.

If by J-1 residency requirement you mean that you had an exchange program that was government funded or have graduate medical training and therefore have a commitment to live abroad two years but want to work in the US before fulfilling that requirement, I'd be very careful and speak with a lawyer very well versed in Canadian and American laws. Perhaps your employer could even help with getting this opinion. While there are several aspects to consider, the deal breaker may very well be how to get legal status to work in the US (as you commute in every day to work for and generate revenue for a US-based company).

If you figure that part out, then you can explore other aspects like driving a vehicle, medical insurance, etc.

For the vehicle component, Canadian residents may not drive a US plated car (note that residency refers to where you reside such that a Canadian citizen living in the US and visiting Canada may drive a US plated vehicle). Some of the relevant laws are:


Tourists can temporarily import cars, per D19-12-1
"RIV Program Exemptions
49. Vehicles are exempt from complying with the CMVSS
at the point of entry into Canada if they are imported under
one of the following conditions:
(a) the vehicles are 15 years old or older, or are buses
manufactured before January 1, 1971; the importer
must be able to demonstrate the age of the vehicle;
(b) the vehicles are entering temporarily with:
(1) visitors, for a period not exceeding 12 months;
temporary residents such as students studying at an
institution of learning, for the duration of their
studies in Canada; or individuals with valid work
permits/authorizations for employment for a period
not exceeding 36 months;"

D2-4-1's covers residents of Canada's use of non-Canadian plated cars:
"GUIDELINES AND
GENERAL INFORMATION

Residents of Canada
1. Residents of Canada may operate conveyances on
which duties have not been paid in Canada only in
accordance with the terms and conditions of tariff item
No. 9802.00.00 and the regulations made pursuant thereto.
Purpose of Importation
2. Conveyances imported temporarily under these
Regulations are admissible for personal transportation only
from the point of arrival to a specified destination in Canada
and return within 30 days, when the purpose of importation
is to transport personally owned goods into or out of
Canada.
3. Similarly, customs inspectors may permit importation
in instances where a resident is required, due to unforeseen
circumstances or emergency reasons, to utilize a
conveyance on which duties have not been paid for personal
transportation to reach a specified destination in Canada and
return.
4. Under no circumstances are conveyances admissible
under these Regulations for touring purposes or for other
leisure activities in Canada, nor is any local use permitted
(e.g., point to point movement in Canada).
5. Customs inspectors will grant free importation of a
conveyance under these Regulations only when satisfied
that the applicable conditions have been met."


...unless it's a rental and certain conditions are met

"Exception — temporary importation

(1.1) Sections 5 and 6 do not apply to a resident of Canada who imports a vehicle that is licensed in the United States if the vehicle is rented in the United States from a vehicle rental business and is being imported into Canada for non-commercial purposes.

Importer to remove vehicle from Canada

(1.2) A resident of Canada who imports a vehicle under subsection (1.1) shall remove the vehicle from Canada within a period of 30 days, or any other prescribed period, beginning on the day on which the vehicle is imported.

Rental business to remove vehicle from Canada

(1.3) If, within the period referred to in subsection (1.2), the resident of Canada delivers the vehicle to a vehicle rental business in Canada with the consent of the business, then the vehicle rental business shall remove the vehicle from Canada before the end of that period."
http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/M-10.01/page-3.html

and

" Canadian residents may, as of June 1, 2012, bring U.S. rental vehicles into Canada for non-commercial use for 30 days or less. This will not affect the safety of Canadian road users, because Canadian and American vehicle standards are similar, and the vehicles will be in Canada for short periods of time.

While these changes to the Motor Vehicle Safety Act (MVSA) will allow one-way and two way trips, residents of Canada may only deliver a vehicle to a vehicle rental business for a one-way trip, with the consent of the business.

Visitors to Canada may continue to bring rental vehicles from the United States into Canada. "
http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/safevehicles-rental-usa-1302.htm

 

[mttst]

Thanks- yeah, that will be left with the employer to do the checking with a lawyer etc..to see if it will be feasible. And I realize most info here is Canadian based, and appreciate people's time & thoughts. It was hard to find J1 resources on this topic, much more could be drawn here.

Thank you all for all that, seems like D2-4-1 is the allowance for commuters to cross over temporarily with a US plated vehicle. Must be what a lot of cross border commuters (with US plated cars) are doing- would love to hear anybody's experience with this permit (obtaining it etc..)...otherwise, thanks to all for the great info.

As for Alurra71's point I think the D2-4-1 is designed for this scenario (company issued vehicle).