Flagpole to lift restrictions change of condition of OWP open work permit

[CdnwifeUSwife]

Hello all! I have been reading this forum and the Facebook group of Canada Spousal Sponsorship since Feb 2018. My timeline is in my signature. I'm the sponsor - Cdnwife, and my wife is the principal applicant -USwife. I got a lot of great information from both sources. Now I'm questioning the one thing that I can't seem to find an answer to. In regards to flagpole, my wife and I plan to do that soon near the end of this month to lift restrictions / "change of condition" on her OWP so she can work in health care where her experiences are in. I've read those of you that flagpoled at the Canada/U.S. border were to get a "refusal of entry" (white paper) from the US side to re-enter Canada, then get a yellow paper (didn't mention what that document is called) and got the visa requested. I read somewhere else that it is not advised to get that refusal of entry white paper, cause every time you go out of Canada for visiting, business or taking a trip, they will routinely ask you why there was a refusal of entry. I'd like to know - Any of you that already had the refusal of entry letter have been repeatedly asked by the customs when you go out of the country? Another advised that we should go to US side at Niagara Falls border and stay overnight, then re-enter Canada at around 7:30 ish a.m. on a certain day (Tues/Wed/Thurs only) to get the OWP renewed with the restrictions removed. That way we don't get the refusal of entry that might spoil our future travel plans out of the country every time. I read some of you had to pay $255 fee at the border but I noticed that's for a NEW work permit. We are just renewing it, thus should be free of charge. Correct? We do not want to re-pay again for what we already have. We were calm through it all - SchA, PCC and medical exam, but I'm extra nervous about the flagpoling situation. We're both Deaf so we want to try to keep communication with the CBSA smooth and as easily as possible. I plan to write down notes ahead of time to show the officer when we approach. We will be driving over and back. (I'm aware some of you just walked over and back.) I was told and am aware that my wife being from the USA (Louisiana) makes it easier to flagpole as she's from a visa-exempt country. Thanks in advance for those of you replying to this.

 

[SeineToHumber]

Since USwife is a US Citizen, why not enter USA? Entering should be a breeze. Only the applicant needs to attend, not the sponsor. Entering as a Canadian isn't much more difficult. At least I can't avoid the opportunity for US shopping or US fast food

Usually people's worries with flagpoling are about getting future US visas, but a US citizen will never need to get a US visa. From what I've heard, a "flagpole" rejection isn't a true rejection, but it's always possible that the US CBP paperwork won't be filled out correctly, and it could cause difficulties for you as a sponsor in entering the USA. But that's a theoretical risk that I haven't seen shared anywhere.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hello all! I have been reading this forum and the Facebook group of Canada Spousal Sponsorship since Feb 2018. My timeline is in my signature. I'm the sponsor - Cdnwife, and my wife is the principal applicant -USwife. I got a lot of great information from both sources. Now I'm questioning the one thing that I can't seem to find an answer to. In regards to flagpole, my wife and I plan to do that soon near the end of this month to lift restrictions / "change of condition" on her OWP so she can work in health care where her experiences are in. I've read those of you that flagpoled at the Canada/U.S. border were to get a "refusal of entry" (white paper) from the US side to re-enter Canada, then get a yellow paper (didn't mention what that document is called) and got the visa requested. I read somewhere else that it is not advised to get that refusal of entry white paper, cause every time you go out of Canada for visiting, business or taking a trip, they will routinely ask you why there was a refusal of entry. I'd like to know - Any of you that already had the refusal of entry letter have been repeatedly asked by the customs when you go out of the country? Another advised that we should go to US side at Niagara Falls border and stay overnight, then re-enter Canada at around 7:30 ish a.m. on a certain day (Tues/Wed/Thurs only) to get the OWP renewed with the restrictions removed. That way we don't get the refusal of entry that might spoil our future travel plans out of the country every time. I read some of you had to pay $255 fee at the border but I noticed that's for a NEW work permit. We are just renewing it, thus should be free of charge. Correct? We do not want to re-pay again for what we already have. We were calm through it all - SchA, PCC and medical exam, but I'm extra nervous about the flagpoling situation. We're both Deaf so we want to try to keep communication with the CBSA smooth and as easily as possible. I plan to write down notes ahead of time to show the officer when we approach. We will be driving over and back. (I'm aware some of you just walked over and back.) I was told and am aware that my wife being from the USA (Louisiana) makes it easier to flagpole as she's from a visa-exempt country. Thanks in advance for those of you replying to this.

The piece of paper is an "administrative refusal". However, as your wife is American, she can't be given an admin refusal. She can explain to CBP that she is flagpoling and they will stamp her passport as proof in place of the admin refusal. If you accompany her, you will get the admin refusal. However, this is not considered a real refusal and does not need to be mentioned in future. This has been confirmed by CBP; they are very familiar with the flagpoling situation.

She might get lucky and get a nice officer who won't charge but she should be prepared to pay. It is not considered a renewal.

 

[CdnwifeUSwife]

The piece of paper is an "administrative refusal". However, as your wife is American, she can't be given an admin refusal. She can explain to CBP that she is flagpoling and they will stamp her passport as proof in place of the admin refusal. If you accompany her, you will get the admin refusal. However, this is not considered a real refusal and does not need to be mentioned in future. This has been confirmed by CBP; they are very familiar with the flagpoling situation.

She might get lucky and get a nice officer who won't charge but she should be prepared to pay. It is not considered a renewal.

Thank you! Believe me - this helps a lot. Now we understand why those that say being a US citizen makes it easier.

 

[CdnwifeUSwife]

The piece of paper is an "administrative refusal". However, as your wife is American, she can't be given an admin refusal. She can explain to CBP that she is flagpoling and they will stamp her passport as proof in place of the admin refusal. If you accompany her, you will get the admin refusal. However, this is not considered a real refusal and does not need to be mentioned in future. This has been confirmed by CBP; they are very familiar with the flagpoling situation.

She might get lucky and get a nice officer who won't charge but she should be prepared to pay. It is not considered a renewal.

Oh, I forgot to ask - we know to go on a certain day (Tues, Wed or Thurs only) but is there a certain time to go at? I called BIS (Border Information Services) and they said to go between 8 a.m. to midnight on those days, however some people in the forum say to go as early as possible like at 8 a.m. Please advise.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Oh, I forgot to ask - we know to go on a certain day (Tues, Wed or Thurs only) but is there a certain time to go at? I called BIS (Border Information Services) and they said to go between 8 a.m. to midnight on those days, however some people in the forum say to go as early as possible like at 8 a.m. Please advise.

Depends on the border crossing. Many of the busy ones in Ontario only process flagpolers at certain times. Other crossings generally don't place limits.

 

[CdnwifeUSwife]

Depends on the border crossing. Many of the busy ones in Ontario only process flagpolers at certain times. Other crossings generally don't place limits.

We’re going to the one in NFalls likely to the Rainbow Bridge crossing by Thursday afternoon. Will they do flagpoling process?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

We’re going to the one in NFalls likely to the Rainbow Bridge crossing by Thursday afternoon. Will they do flagpoling process?

That is one with restrictions. Search the forum. There is a long thread about the Rainbow Bridge crossing that should have some info on the times when you can go.

 

[CdnwifeUSwife]

That is one with restrictions. Search the forum. There is a long thread about the Rainbow Bridge crossing that should have some info on the times when you can go.

Hopefully I'm able to find that thread. If you do find it, please paste link here. Thanks. Searching for it now...

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Hopefully I'm able to find that thread. If you do find it, please paste link here. Thanks. Searching for it now...

https://www.canadavisa.com/canada-immigration-discussion-board/threads/rainbow-bridge-pr-landing-failed.501556/page-17

 

[CdnwifeUSwife]

If y'all are reading this thread, here's what I found regarding flagpoling at one of the NFalls border crossings. They just recently set the restrictions as of last year 2017. (the article was posted in May 2018). See to link.
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2018/05/06/canada-clamps-down-on-flagpoling-with-immigration-restrictions-at-some-border-crossings.html

I researched further and found another article which suggests going to another border crossing as NFalls is the busiest and is best to avoid due to no guarantee for same-day services, restricted to certain 3 days to flagpole, etc. My wife and I discussed and decided to flagpole at Thousand Islands Bridge (border crossing) as it is 30 mins shorter travel time from where we live (compared to travel time to NFalls) and can process immigration documents there any day of the week. I will report back next week how it went for us. We will tour Kingston for a bit after flagpoling before heading back home. It'll be a fun day trip for us.
https://www.forum-expat-management.com/users/10520-fragomen/posts/17963-canada-southern-ontario-ports-of-entry-application-submission-window-restricted

https://www.canada.ca/en/border-services-agency/news/2018/06/lansdowne-port-of-entry.html