Canadian PR with US Visa - how long is the border inspection driving CA->US?

[alienangel]

Hi,

I'm a Canadian PR, and have a valid US visitors+business Visa. Thanks to a (I suppose) suspicious sounding name, whenever I visit the US by air I usually get taken aside and questioned for 45-60 minutes at Pearson. There's nothing problematic in my background or anything but I guess they like to confirm I am who my documents say I am.

This time I'm driving across the border (likely at the Lewiston bridge) with some Canadian friends, and I'm wondering if it's likely to take that long when crossing by car as well. We're wondering because we need to catch an early morning train on the US side, so want to budget enough time for whatever grilling they decide to give me.

If anyone has experience with the customs process when driving across the border from Canada to the US as a Canadian PR, it would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[zardoz]

I vaguely remember that you can apply for a "Redress Control Number" that allows you to identify yourself as not being a "person of interest". Try starting here... http://www.dhs.gov/dhs-trip and here http://www.dhs.gov/one-stop-travelers-redress-process

 

[alienangel]

Thanks Zardoz, I'll certainly look into that, especially if they delay me this trip too. But it looks like it would take to long to be helpful this particular time.