I apologize if this is in the wrong area, but I believe the relevance fits:
I have been looking into schools in Canada for a while now. I am from the US and during my first visit to Vancouver, I found myself a school that I like a lot. Different options of immigrating/ temporarily staying in Canada have swam through my mind for a long time. I have great family friends up here, including my best friend who is also my on/off boyfriend (long distance... difficult). During my last visit, my boyfriend, his family, and I spent a few days in Seattle. We were pulled over on the way back at the border and the officer gave me a slip of paper that I had to get signed at the airport to make sure I went back when I said I was going back. He was afraid that I was running away from my family and would not return (apparently I'm not very good at convincing the border that I'm going to go back home). They stapled the slip in my passport and said if I didn't get it signed I would be arrested.
Naturally I returned at the date I was supposed to return... as I was going to before the slip... and booked another visit around half a year later. This visit was supposed to be a visit/ stay whether or not I had already applied to school and gotten accepted/ declined etcetera. After some issues and family confusion (parents splitting and moving), I held off on applying to school in Canada and the trip was just supposed to be a visit. The border did not agree so well.
I stupidly did not book a return ticket on my visit. My parents told me to hold off because of the split they were not sure where they wanted me to go. Stupidly I did not get a letter from my parents either. Bare with my idiocy: my boyfriend and I had recently broken up, but as said before, I'm not going to waste an expensive ticket and visiting wasn't just for him, but the family friends also, and school. At the airport I was pulled into I suppose their... examination room?? There everything was pulled out, I was asked hundreds of questions, at midnight (which was really 3 in the morning where I was from), after traveling all day. She found lots of things that my boyfriend had left at my house during his visit, college application papers, and some print outs about sponsorships, etcetera. I also had my fingerprint results with me because they were not supposed to come in for another four months processing time (but came early) and I was under the impression that they were needed for school (so I was getting things done earlier). Anyway, the short/ long story: I was locked into a room until six in the morning, forced to spend a 340 dollar ticket back to Seattle WA and sent back with my tail between my legs and eyes red.
My boyfriend and his mother had been waiting for me and were interviewed, I suppose. They came to get me in seattle, which I didn't know about until I was in seattle (to my relief). I wasn't even allowed to see them in the airport, or make any phone call to my mother, and the officers were telling me so many different things. One officer told me 'good luck getting into canada even six months from now' and the other said that I could even try again tomorrow in seattle, which is what we did.
This time was basically the same, except the officer was kinder. He let me through, giving me that slip of paper again, and said that every time I try to cross again, I'll get pulled over. He just wanted to know why I wanted to be in Canada so much... is it ridiculous to just want to be in Canada because I traveled a whole day, spent money on a plane ticket, and just wanted a vacation from my house?
-Deep breath- sorry for the long story but I guess this leaves me here: I have a scratched up phone from them looking through it, a deflated ego, a big mark up on my record (because that's two slips in my passport and one time 'voluntarily leaving canada' (which they say doesn't go in my passport but they have all the information on the computer which doesn't go away), and nightmares about the whole experience. I guess being emotional plays a big part in why what happened was traumatic for me.
Onto the main part here: I am very frightened to cross the border ever again... and despite my confusion I am still pretty positive that I would love to go school here... but I don't want to go through what I did before. I feel like my chances of getting a student visa is slim and I just... well I'm a wreck to be honest. I guess I'm just wondering what you as a reader thinks about this all? As in: should I still bother trying to go to school here or should I give up hope? I don't want to give up but I don't want to permanently ruin my chances of ever coming back to Canada again.
Thank you so much if you read this all the way through. I really would appreciate your input.
P.S. To clear things up: I did not give the border a hard time. The only thing I did that was probably immature was cry in the room they locked me in. Also, I understand the border officers were just doing their job, so I'm not pointing fingers, blaming, or trying to make them look like the bad guys because they aren't... if anything... I guess I am...
I have been looking into schools in Canada for a while now. I am from the US and during my first visit to Vancouver, I found myself a school that I like a lot. Different options of immigrating/ temporarily staying in Canada have swam through my mind for a long time. I have great family friends up here, including my best friend who is also my on/off boyfriend (long distance... difficult). During my last visit, my boyfriend, his family, and I spent a few days in Seattle. We were pulled over on the way back at the border and the officer gave me a slip of paper that I had to get signed at the airport to make sure I went back when I said I was going back. He was afraid that I was running away from my family and would not return (apparently I'm not very good at convincing the border that I'm going to go back home). They stapled the slip in my passport and said if I didn't get it signed I would be arrested.
Naturally I returned at the date I was supposed to return... as I was going to before the slip... and booked another visit around half a year later. This visit was supposed to be a visit/ stay whether or not I had already applied to school and gotten accepted/ declined etcetera. After some issues and family confusion (parents splitting and moving), I held off on applying to school in Canada and the trip was just supposed to be a visit. The border did not agree so well.
I stupidly did not book a return ticket on my visit. My parents told me to hold off because of the split they were not sure where they wanted me to go. Stupidly I did not get a letter from my parents either. Bare with my idiocy: my boyfriend and I had recently broken up, but as said before, I'm not going to waste an expensive ticket and visiting wasn't just for him, but the family friends also, and school. At the airport I was pulled into I suppose their... examination room?? There everything was pulled out, I was asked hundreds of questions, at midnight (which was really 3 in the morning where I was from), after traveling all day. She found lots of things that my boyfriend had left at my house during his visit, college application papers, and some print outs about sponsorships, etcetera. I also had my fingerprint results with me because they were not supposed to come in for another four months processing time (but came early) and I was under the impression that they were needed for school (so I was getting things done earlier). Anyway, the short/ long story: I was locked into a room until six in the morning, forced to spend a 340 dollar ticket back to Seattle WA and sent back with my tail between my legs and eyes red.
My boyfriend and his mother had been waiting for me and were interviewed, I suppose. They came to get me in seattle, which I didn't know about until I was in seattle (to my relief). I wasn't even allowed to see them in the airport, or make any phone call to my mother, and the officers were telling me so many different things. One officer told me 'good luck getting into canada even six months from now' and the other said that I could even try again tomorrow in seattle, which is what we did.
This time was basically the same, except the officer was kinder. He let me through, giving me that slip of paper again, and said that every time I try to cross again, I'll get pulled over. He just wanted to know why I wanted to be in Canada so much... is it ridiculous to just want to be in Canada because I traveled a whole day, spent money on a plane ticket, and just wanted a vacation from my house?
-Deep breath- sorry for the long story but I guess this leaves me here: I have a scratched up phone from them looking through it, a deflated ego, a big mark up on my record (because that's two slips in my passport and one time 'voluntarily leaving canada' (which they say doesn't go in my passport but they have all the information on the computer which doesn't go away), and nightmares about the whole experience. I guess being emotional plays a big part in why what happened was traumatic for me.
Onto the main part here: I am very frightened to cross the border ever again... and despite my confusion I am still pretty positive that I would love to go school here... but I don't want to go through what I did before. I feel like my chances of getting a student visa is slim and I just... well I'm a wreck to be honest. I guess I'm just wondering what you as a reader thinks about this all? As in: should I still bother trying to go to school here or should I give up hope? I don't want to give up but I don't want to permanently ruin my chances of ever coming back to Canada again.
Thank you so much if you read this all the way through. I really would appreciate your input.
P.S. To clear things up: I did not give the border a hard time. The only thing I did that was probably immature was cry in the room they locked me in. Also, I understand the border officers were just doing their job, so I'm not pointing fingers, blaming, or trying to make them look like the bad guys because they aren't... if anything... I guess I am...
