Mexican citizen to visit Canada

[Lisa Morrison]

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what may happen if you are turned away at the Canadian border.

My situation is this: I would like to bring a Mexican friend into Canada from the US by driving across the border. My friend has a valid Mexican passport and no criminal history. He does have sufficient funds to support himself on a vacation in Canada. However, he has been in the States for a while (with no visa) and because of that, I worry about his ties to Mexico. He does have family in Mexico and a residential address in Mexico, but doesn't own property or anything like that. I understand that the border agents may not end up asking him those questions, but in case they do, and are not satisfied that he can prove his ties to Mexico, I am worried that they may not allow him to visit Canada. So my question is, if he is turned away at the border, what will happen? Will they send him directly to the airport to fly back to Mexico? If so would they send him in the US or Canada? Would they normally allow him to leave voluntarily, or force him to leave?

Thank you

 

[scylla]

Hi, I'm just wondering if anyone can tell me what may happen if you are turned away at the Canadian border.

My situation is this: I would like to bring a Mexican friend into Canada from the US by driving across the border. My friend has a valid Mexican passport and no criminal history. He does have sufficient funds to support himself on a vacation in Canada. However, he has been in the States for a while (with no visa) and because of that, I worry about his ties to Mexico. He does have family in Mexico and a residential address in Mexico, but doesn't own property or anything like that. I understand that the border agents may not end up asking him those questions, but in case they do, and are not satisfied that he can prove his ties to Mexico, I am worried that they may not allow him to visit Canada. So my question is, if he is turned away at the border, what will happen? Will they send him directly to the airport to fly back to Mexico? If so would they send him in the US or Canada? Would they normally allow him to leave voluntarily, or force him to leave?

Thank you

If he's refused entry, CBSA will hand him over to US border officials since that's where he came from.

If he's in the US without status, then US border officials will move to deport him and it's possible he may be detained for a while before being deported.

If he's in the US without status, that certainly will significantly increase the chances of problems entering Canada.

 

[scylla]

Just to add to the above - I looked at one of your previous posts and it looks like he's been in the US illegally for at least 10 years and has been caught entering illegally. If that's the case, it's pretty much guaranteed US officials will detain him (likely for many months before he's deported) if he's refused entry to Canada. Also, the chances of being refused entry to Canada are quite substantial. Keep in mind that the US and Canada share immigration information and he effectively has no ties to Mexico at this point given his immigration history in the US.

If he wants to try entering Canada, he should be prepared for the possibility he may end up being held (i.e. imprisoned) by US officials for quite a while.

 

[Copingwithlife]

More than likely CBSA is going to look to see what his status is in the United States before allowing him into the country, and when they see that he does not have a GC or an American Visa, it will just open the proverbial Pandora's box as what exactly his status is. And if they turn him around, he will have to head back to the American Border and deal with them, There was that instance awhile back with the Australian at the border, with an American visa that was close to expiring. Canada did not want to take the chance he would not have status in the USA to go back too. So without allowing him entry, he was turned back to the country he came from, which was the USA, and he ended up in INS detention
He has to get a ETA for a Mexican Passport as well

 

[Lisa Morrison]

Thank you all for your replies here. I think based on what you're telling me and other research I've conducted online, that it is not worth him trying to enter Canada as a tourist. From what you all are saying it looks like it is likely that Canada will turn him away and I don't want him to get handed over to US border security. Although based on what I've read it's a good possibility they would allow him to leave voluntarily, I don't want to put him in the position of having to face any trouble, especially given that at some point he may want to immigrate to Canada permanently. Also Copingwithlife, just to let you know, I think he doesn't need an ETA if he going into the country by land (only needs if going by air). Thanks again for all your very helpful advice.