I am outside of RO and my PR card expired over 2 years ago. I am a citizen of the US and I'm trying to figure out the best way to cross the border without being reported. I know to cross by land in a private car, but am I able to use my US passport and say I'm just visiting? Or must I show my expired PR card and be fully transparent.
Crossing Border with Ex PR Card, can I use US Passport?
- Thread starter kyeno1
- Start date
When you show your US Passport, CBSA may be able to determine you are a PR. So, its better to show your passport and landing document. CBSA will still ask you when did you leave Canada. According to your answers, you get reported or not, is up to CBSA.kyeno1 said:
I recently crossed the borders from the States to Canada by land using my expired PR card and my passport. The officer at the borders thought I was a visitor even though I gave her my PR card and a passport. She didn't notice the PR card and she asked me a question "How long will you stay in Canada?" I said to her I am a PR. She said where is your PR card. I told her that I gave it to her. And then she noticed she had it. I was surprised. My passport was not slided through a machine neither did I get a stamp in my passport. This is my recent experience at the land borders.
For Permanent residents, only PR card is scanned, the passport is not usually stamped or scanned at the land border.torhout13 said:
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More current passports have RFID. No need to swipe anything. It is all proximity based. Same goes for NEXUS cardstorhout13 said:
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rish888
Guest
Kyeno1,
If you are a PR who is not in compliance with their RO and you want to go to Canada you could just present your U.S. passport and the officer may ask you some simple questions, such as:
Where are you headed?
Do you have any taxable goods on you? If so what is the value?
and then wave you in.
What I have mentioned above is a probability, not a fact, you may be asked about your immigration status, how long you intend to stay, etc. You must be completely truthful.
If you say you're a PR you will be asked why you are in non-compliance, and depending on the officer you may or may not be reported for violating your RO.
Usually, the better your excuse, the less likely you are to be reported, though this is completely arbitrary unless you have an extremely valid, universally recognized H&C reason to justify your breach of RO.
The one advice I will give you is do not lie to the officer, not even a little white lie, because that is a one-way ticket to PR revocation and you may even be banned from the country. If you are reported for misrepresentation, even getting visas in the future may be an issue.
If you are a PR who is not in compliance with their RO and you want to go to Canada you could just present your U.S. passport and the officer may ask you some simple questions, such as:
Where are you headed?
Do you have any taxable goods on you? If so what is the value?
and then wave you in.
What I have mentioned above is a probability, not a fact, you may be asked about your immigration status, how long you intend to stay, etc. You must be completely truthful.
If you say you're a PR you will be asked why you are in non-compliance, and depending on the officer you may or may not be reported for violating your RO.
Usually, the better your excuse, the less likely you are to be reported, though this is completely arbitrary unless you have an extremely valid, universally recognized H&C reason to justify your breach of RO.
The one advice I will give you is do not lie to the officer, not even a little white lie, because that is a one-way ticket to PR revocation and you may even be banned from the country. If you are reported for misrepresentation, even getting visas in the future may be an issue.
@rish888
Do you think the CBSA officer won't know that the OP is PR?
When they scan the passport, there must be a way for CBSA officer to check the demographics of the person to know if the person is PR or not.
Do you think the CBSA officer won't know that the OP is PR?
When they scan the passport, there must be a way for CBSA officer to check the demographics of the person to know if the person is PR or not.
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rish888
Guest
I'm sure they definitely can run checks; I don't know the system of CBSA however I said that may just be a probability.
For example from what I hear when traveling buy bus or train, the officers come and just go over ID not necessarily scanning everyone.
Another way where PR status is not evident directly could be say for example if he has had his passport renewed or something etc. If he had an enhanced drivers license unless they purposefully check to see if he has PR status I don't think that would come up on the system directly.
I know on this forum a lot of PR's without a card would just fly to Canada and cross customs on a visa-waiver passport until they introduced ETA (which is still only for air travel.)
I believe there was a post on this just another day.
All I said was that it could go either way for him, to be prepared, and to be truthful.
Personally, I think if a PR is an American citizen and does not have good grounds to justify retention, unless they intend to return and stay 2 years straight until they satisfy their RO, they could just renounce PR, enter Canada anytime as a tourist, if they get a job in Canada and it's on the NAFTA list they could apply for a work permit at the land crossing, and the same goes for studies.
Canadian benefits aside, entry for Americans into Canada is very, very simple unless they're issues such as criminal convictions etc.
For example from what I hear when traveling buy bus or train, the officers come and just go over ID not necessarily scanning everyone.
Another way where PR status is not evident directly could be say for example if he has had his passport renewed or something etc. If he had an enhanced drivers license unless they purposefully check to see if he has PR status I don't think that would come up on the system directly.
I know on this forum a lot of PR's without a card would just fly to Canada and cross customs on a visa-waiver passport until they introduced ETA (which is still only for air travel.)
I believe there was a post on this just another day.
All I said was that it could go either way for him, to be prepared, and to be truthful.
Personally, I think if a PR is an American citizen and does not have good grounds to justify retention, unless they intend to return and stay 2 years straight until they satisfy their RO, they could just renounce PR, enter Canada anytime as a tourist, if they get a job in Canada and it's on the NAFTA list they could apply for a work permit at the land crossing, and the same goes for studies.
Canadian benefits aside, entry for Americans into Canada is very, very simple unless they're issues such as criminal convictions etc.
IDs are always scanned regardless of mode of transportation. If person holds PR card, Pr card is scanned, if person holds passport with visa then passport and visa is scanned.
If passport is from visa waiver country, passport is still scanned.
I am not sure however, I think when CBSA officer scans passport, the name/date of birth tries to find a match in the system to reveal if the person is PR or not. It's just a wild guess but who knows.
If passport is from visa waiver country, passport is still scanned.
I am not sure however, I think when CBSA officer scans passport, the name/date of birth tries to find a match in the system to reveal if the person is PR or not. It's just a wild guess but who knows.
They can find all visas and permits linked to that passport number, and do a search by name.thecoolguysam said:
If you're a US citizen, you won't have a visa. You might have work permits or study permits. They can look at the notes, which will be there if you landed using that passport.
If you have replaced your passport, they have to work to find out if you were a PR. They can search by your name and birthdate, and figure out that it's you, but they have to go looking.
That's simply not true. I have crossed in the past without having anything scanned at all. They took my documents, looked at them, handed them back, and waved me on. It was at a land crossing border.thecoolguysam said:
It doesn't. They can search to find it if they want, and when they scan, it will alert if there is a flag. The flag can be placed upon the document (such as a passport number), or even just a wide name match.
PR status is not found automatically.
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rish888
Guest
cyt0plas,
I completely agree with you. While I have never used the land crossing myself from what I understand especially when on a train or bus and presenting a U.S. passport it is not always scanned, though it may be.
The idea in this case is to present a U.S. passport and not say anything else, if the officer initiates conversation asking about PR status, then of course the individual must be truthful, provide proof of status if asked and if he has it on him (ex a PR card even expired) and explain to the officer why he did not meet the RO if that applies.
I completely agree with you. While I have never used the land crossing myself from what I understand especially when on a train or bus and presenting a U.S. passport it is not always scanned, though it may be.
The idea in this case is to present a U.S. passport and not say anything else, if the officer initiates conversation asking about PR status, then of course the individual must be truthful, provide proof of status if asked and if he has it on him (ex a PR card even expired) and explain to the officer why he did not meet the RO if that applies.