Flagpoling with valid US visa

[Ajay1213]

Hi Senior Members,

I just received my COPR and i am currently living in canada Alberta on work permit. I have few questions.

1. I have a valid US visitor VISA (multiple entry) and if I just do flag pole on any land border, will i still get a refusal from US authorities ?

2. Can i go for 2-3 days vacation in USA and come back and do the landing at any airport ?

The reason is as i called CBSA , they said that for flagpoling you need to have a valid US visa ( which i have) and come between 9 to 3 PM on Tue, Wed and Thursday. Even though they may refuse to do immigration and let me come back on my current work permit.

 

[zardoz]

Hi Senior Members,

I just received my COPR and i am currently living in canada Alberta on work permit. I have few questions.

1. I have a valid US visitor VISA (multiple entry) and if I just do flag pole on any land border, will i still get a refusal from US authorities ?

2. Can i go for 2-3 days vacation in USA and come back and do the landing at any airport ?

The reason is as i called CBSA , they said that for flagpoling you need to have a valid US visa ( which i have) and come between 9 to 3 PM on Tue, Wed and Thursday. Even though they may refuse to do immigration and let me come back on my current work permit.

1) if you flagpole, the USA will give you an "administrative refusal" and send you back to Canada for landing.
2) yes, but you will land at the airport that you arrive at.

 

[Ajay1213]

Can

1) if you flagpole, the USA will give you an "administrative refusal" and send you back to Canada for landing.
2) yes, but you will land at the airport that you arrive at.

thanks for reply.
can I visit USA for 2-3 hours, will they still consider it flag poling and give me refusal ?
When I called CBSA they said I can only do it on tue , wed thur , can I not go on weekend ?? COPR letter doesnt mention about days anywhere ??

 

[zardoz]

Can
thanks for reply.
can I visit USA for 2-3 hours, will they still consider it flag poling and give me refusal ?
When I called CBSA they said I can only do it on tue , wed thur , can I not go on weekend ?? COPR letter doesnt mention about days anywhere ??

If you enter the USA and stay for a while as a visitor, it's not flag-poling. However, CBSA might still be "difficult", depending on how long you stayed.
If you stayed there overnight for example, I don't think that there would be a problem.

CBSA have restricted flag-poling to certain days in certain busy southern Ontario border posts. You have to abide by their rules, which only impact flag-poling, not a normal crossing from the USA.

 

[Ajay1213]

If you enter the USA and stay for a while as a visitor, it's not flag-poling. However, CBSA might still be "difficult", depending on how long you stayed.
If you stayed there overnight for example, I don't think that there would be a problem.

CBSA have restricted flag-poling to certain days in certain busy southern Ontario border posts. You have to abide by their rules, which only impact flag-poling, not a normal crossing from the USA.

Thanks a ton , will plan to stay overnight.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Can
thanks for reply.
can I visit USA for 2-3 hours, will they still consider it flag poling and give me refusal ?
When I called CBSA they said I can only do it on tue , wed thur , can I not go on weekend ?? COPR letter doesnt mention about days anywhere ??

Note that for people living in Canada, CBSA generally still considers it flagpoling even if they go for a few days. You may be denied landing unless you stick to the approved flagpoling time frames.

 

[Ajay1213]

Note that for people living in Canada, CBSA generally still considers it flagpoling even if they go for a few days. You may be denied landing unless you stick to the approved flagpoling time frames.

Thanks a Lot for information.
What about US Immigration , will they also consider this as Flag poling ? The reason i am asking is - I have heard if you go for flag poling they refuse the entry and give you a refusal letter ,which you need to mention anytime you apply for any US immigration.
And since I do have a Valid US VISA i want to avoid the refusal. So I am wandering if I go and stay overnight or do shopping for 1-2 hours and come back would that save me from getting denial from US Side ?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Thanks a Lot for information.
What about US Immigration , will they also consider this as Flag poling ? The reason i am asking is - I have heard if you go for flag poling they refuse the entry and give you a refusal letter ,which you need to mention anytime you apply for any US immigration.
And since I do have a Valid US VISA i want to avoid the refusal. So I am wandering if I go and stay overnight or do shopping for 1-2 hours and come back would that save me from getting denial from US Side ?

It's an administrative refusal and does not need to be declared.

 

[rehank]

It's an administrative refusal and does not need to be declared.

But why would we even get administrative refusal when we have US visit visa ? Isnt it reasonable if you go for shopping and return next day ?
What are the flag poling time ? What if we return during those flag poling time frames ? Then its fine ? @canuck_in_uk

 

[rehank]

thanks for reply.
can I visit USA for 2-3 hours, will they still consider it flag poling and give me refusal ?
When I called CBSA they said I can only do it on tue , wed thur , can I not go on weekend ?? COPR letter doesnt mention about days anywhere ??

Hi Ajay,

Did you end up visiting US for few hours and returned to CAnada ? Please let me know!!

 

[canuck_in_uk]

But why would we even get administrative refusal when we have US visit visa ? Isnt it reasonable if you go for shopping and return next day ?
What are the flag poling time ? What if we return during those flag poling time frames ? Then its fine ? @canuck_in_uk

The admin refusal is given when you ask US CBP to turn you right around instead of actually entering the US.

You can choose to enter instead. You will need to check flagpoling time frames yourself. As I understand it, they fill up quite quickly, so no, there is no guarantee that you will be fine if you return during that time frame.

 

[rehank]

The admin refusal is given when you ask US CBP to turn you right around instead of actually entering the US.

You can choose to enter instead. You will need to check flagpoling time frames yourself. As I understand it, they fill up quite quickly, so no, there is no guarantee that you will be fine if you return during that time frame.

So in order to do landing by entering US and come back after few hours ., I still need to see the times ? Can I just not do it night time 1 or 2 AM ?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

So in order to do landing by entering US and come back after few hours ., I still need to see the times ? Can I just not do it night time 1 or 2 AM ?

As I said in a previous post, even if you enter the US for a few days, CBSA generally considers it to still be flagpoling, as you live in Canada.

 

[zirawood]

Can
thanks for reply.
can I visit USA for 2-3 hours, will they still consider it flag poling and give me refusal ?
When I called CBSA they said I can only do it on tue , wed thur , can I not go on weekend ?? COPR letter doesnt mention about days anywhere ??

Hi Ajay,

Did you end up visiting US for few hours and returned to CAnada ? Please let me know!!

And it takes how much hours to come back after crossing to US border?

 

[bellaluna]

Hi Ajay,

Did you end up visiting US for few hours and returned to CAnada ? Please let me know!!

And it takes how much hours to come back after crossing to US border?

If you're allowed entry in the US, you can stay in the US for any amount of time...1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, 6 months...as long as the permitted time indicated in your I-94.

If it's a first-time/one-time matter, and if it's for activating your PR or a work permit, it shouldn't be an issue.

I remember there was someone who posted on this forum who made frequent border runs alone just for leisure, for 2 hours at a time...only for a CBSA officer to detain him and accuse him of drug trafficking at one point. But this is a worst case scenario, and he'd accumulated a history of such crossings, enough for CBSA to be suspicious.