Hello, I am Patrick, a US Citizen. So I recently attempted to cross into Canada overland via bus at Blaine, WA - the officer (I think) thought I had too much luggage for a week so I was pulled in for a secondary screening, wherein my heart medicine was mistaken for cocaine (a little paper sachet I keep in my wallet that contains a Xanax, a beta blocker and a nitroglycerin pill, which had, over a period of months been mashed together).
While the Suspicious White Powder (which not incidentally, tested negative for cocaine), got things off to a really bad start, after a traumatic two hours the officers determined that I, being a consultant who just moved from LA and had not yet settled down, had weak ties to the US, and was going to overstay the week I stipulated on my boarding card, and as a result denied me entry and made me sign a voluntary withdrawal agreement. The statute: “Under section R42, the officer who examines a foreign national who is seeking to enter Canada and who has indicated that they want to withdraw their application to enter Canada shall allow the foreign national to withdraw their application.”
I was told by the officers and others since that to have a chance of getting back into Canada, I would have to provide proof of residency, employment, etc, and that every time I returned I would be pulled in for secondary questioning.
I have a cluster of questions around this, so I’ll just fire them off…
Is there a way, via consular officer (not even sure what this would mean) or immigration attorney, to find out what was written down as notes for my reason for denial? I’m afraid they wrote down something like “Patrick had suspicious white powder, turned out to not be cocaine.”
Is there a way to get whatever notes were made in my application expunged from my record? And if so, would this be possible to do this online or via a third party, eg. without having to again throw myself at the mercy of the border guards and risk denial at a point of entry?
Will the UK, NZ or Ireland, at their points of entry, see that I was denied entry into Canada, eg. other members of the Five Country Conference - and will this affect my ability to visit those countries?
Would an immigration attorney be of any help in this matter?
I do want to re-enter Canada again, and am daunted by the prospect of having what seems to be a black mark on my record forever.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
-Patrick
While the Suspicious White Powder (which not incidentally, tested negative for cocaine), got things off to a really bad start, after a traumatic two hours the officers determined that I, being a consultant who just moved from LA and had not yet settled down, had weak ties to the US, and was going to overstay the week I stipulated on my boarding card, and as a result denied me entry and made me sign a voluntary withdrawal agreement. The statute: “Under section R42, the officer who examines a foreign national who is seeking to enter Canada and who has indicated that they want to withdraw their application to enter Canada shall allow the foreign national to withdraw their application.”
I was told by the officers and others since that to have a chance of getting back into Canada, I would have to provide proof of residency, employment, etc, and that every time I returned I would be pulled in for secondary questioning.
I have a cluster of questions around this, so I’ll just fire them off…
Is there a way, via consular officer (not even sure what this would mean) or immigration attorney, to find out what was written down as notes for my reason for denial? I’m afraid they wrote down something like “Patrick had suspicious white powder, turned out to not be cocaine.”
Is there a way to get whatever notes were made in my application expunged from my record? And if so, would this be possible to do this online or via a third party, eg. without having to again throw myself at the mercy of the border guards and risk denial at a point of entry?
Will the UK, NZ or Ireland, at their points of entry, see that I was denied entry into Canada, eg. other members of the Five Country Conference - and will this affect my ability to visit those countries?
Would an immigration attorney be of any help in this matter?
I do want to re-enter Canada again, and am daunted by the prospect of having what seems to be a black mark on my record forever.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
-Patrick
