Hi guys,
I'm creating this thread to mention my bad experience with Flag-poling. Your stories and comments are very welcomed and appreciated.
I'm a CEC applicant and I got my COPR recently. Because I'm an Inland applicant, I had two options to validate my COPR. The first was (Flag-poling) which means I have to leave Canada to another country and come back again to maintain what they call (Landing). The other option was to book an appointment at a local office near my residential address.
I was so excited so I decided to cross the boarders with my little family (Spouse + 2 kids). On the US side, my nightmare started. The officers asked me to pull over, leave my belongings and enter the office to complete the procedure.
At the office, a nice and polite officer wearing a uniform started to process our passports, and then another two officers with casual outfit showed up and one of them started to ask me general questions about my work, and my travel history while the second one was staring at me. After I answered all his questions, he sent me back to my seat. 20 minutes later, He showed up again with my phone (which was left in my car) and he asked me to tell him the pattern to access the phone. It was really intimidating, but I was afraid it would get worse if I refused his request especially because the dark started and I have my family with me. So, I complied with his request and then he disappeared with my phone.
30 to 40 minutes later, the two officers showed up again and they apologized for the delay and they gave me a flyer that contains information about the regulatory of checking electronic devices. When I asked, "why me?" I learned later it's because we are from one of a list of certain countries that fall under a certain regulatory. Later, the polite office completed the process, he took my fingerprint and my picture and the same for my spouse and then he hands us the entry refusal document and showed us the way to go back to our beloved Canada.
At the Candian side, I swear when meeting with the Candian officers I wished I could hug them but I was afraid they would think I'm crazy. All the officers we've met were very nice. And one of them completed our landing process in no time, and then she said: you are all set CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Even though my family was happy, I couldn't sleep for two days now because what happened on the US side was really intimidating for me and my family. And most of the time, I wish I have another chance to discuss with the US officers to tell them how stupid and useless this process was, especially for people who are not even going to enter the US. What really blows my mind, many friends from my home country did the landing recently without experiencing this scenario.
So, guys please, be patient and don't do flag-poling. However, if you wish to do so, be ready and don't take any electronic device you don't want other people to miss with.
Good luck
I'm creating this thread to mention my bad experience with Flag-poling. Your stories and comments are very welcomed and appreciated.
I'm a CEC applicant and I got my COPR recently. Because I'm an Inland applicant, I had two options to validate my COPR. The first was (Flag-poling) which means I have to leave Canada to another country and come back again to maintain what they call (Landing). The other option was to book an appointment at a local office near my residential address.
I was so excited so I decided to cross the boarders with my little family (Spouse + 2 kids). On the US side, my nightmare started. The officers asked me to pull over, leave my belongings and enter the office to complete the procedure.
At the office, a nice and polite officer wearing a uniform started to process our passports, and then another two officers with casual outfit showed up and one of them started to ask me general questions about my work, and my travel history while the second one was staring at me. After I answered all his questions, he sent me back to my seat. 20 minutes later, He showed up again with my phone (which was left in my car) and he asked me to tell him the pattern to access the phone. It was really intimidating, but I was afraid it would get worse if I refused his request especially because the dark started and I have my family with me. So, I complied with his request and then he disappeared with my phone.
30 to 40 minutes later, the two officers showed up again and they apologized for the delay and they gave me a flyer that contains information about the regulatory of checking electronic devices. When I asked, "why me?" I learned later it's because we are from one of a list of certain countries that fall under a certain regulatory. Later, the polite office completed the process, he took my fingerprint and my picture and the same for my spouse and then he hands us the entry refusal document and showed us the way to go back to our beloved Canada.
At the Candian side, I swear when meeting with the Candian officers I wished I could hug them but I was afraid they would think I'm crazy. All the officers we've met were very nice. And one of them completed our landing process in no time, and then she said: you are all set CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Even though my family was happy, I couldn't sleep for two days now because what happened on the US side was really intimidating for me and my family. And most of the time, I wish I have another chance to discuss with the US officers to tell them how stupid and useless this process was, especially for people who are not even going to enter the US. What really blows my mind, many friends from my home country did the landing recently without experiencing this scenario.
So, guys please, be patient and don't do flag-poling. However, if you wish to do so, be ready and don't take any electronic device you don't want other people to miss with.
Good luck
Last edited:
