Question about traveling to the US

[Charlissimo]

My wife received her landing paper and when she brought that over from South Korea, Immigration Canada advised her that she would receive the PR card 2 months later.

We still haven't received her PR card but wanted to know if the US border would accept the landing paper for her to enter US grounds? Please advise as this would be easier than trying to obtain a US Visa for her.

Thanks

 

[itscoezy]

i was under the impression that if you are a Canadian PR you still need a visa to the US unless your country is visa exempt.

Would love to hear the answer to this

 

[Charlissimo]

I assumed that as PR you have the same freedom of traveling to the US without any problems. Can someone please clarify???

 

[CharlieD10]

I assumed that as PR you have the same freedom of traveling to the US without any problems. Can someone please clarify???

NO. Being a Canadian PR gives you no freedom of travel anywhere. If you required a visa to enter a country before you became a PR, you still require one after becoming a Canadian PR.

If she was not visa-exempt, she needs to apply for a visit visa at the nearest US consulate.

 

[computergeek]

My wife received her landing paper and when she brought that over from South Korea, Immigration Canada advised her that she would receive the PR card 2 months later.

We still haven't received her PR card but wanted to know if the US border would accept the landing paper for her to enter US grounds? Please advise as this would be easier than trying to obtain a US Visa for her.

Thanks

The US does not extend visa waiver privileges to permanent residents, only citizens. However, South Korea is a Visa Waiver Participant, so she should only need to obtain it at the border. See http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html#countries for the current list of US Visa waiver countries.

 

[YorkFactory]

South Korea is a Visa Waiver Participant, so she should only need to obtain it at the border.

You should bring $6 (USD) with you to pay the fee for the I-94W.

 

[computergeek]

The paper I-94W form is being phased out in favor of the ETSA (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/) which for a $14 fee provides multiple/entry exit (although having traveled with a business colleague back and forth across the border, I've observed that it's not particularly well implemented for land crossings yet, but it is for air travel, although that was over a year ago.)

Another option is that a Canadian Permanent Resident is eligible to obtain a Nexus card (http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/trusted_traveler/nexus_prog/nexus_eligibility.xml) and this permits expedited travel between the US and Canada. There is a fee of $50 for this card (good for five years) but it allows use of dedicated Nexus lanes at land border crossings, it allows self-service clearance through immigration at participating Canadian airports (including flights to the US, where clearance is done in Canada) and there is even a mechanism for "calling in" when one transits the border via a privately owned watercraft. This does require approval by both US and Canadian border authorities, but it makes transit MUCH easier.

 

[cantor2537]

I concur. Your wife, if not from a visa exempt country, would need a visa to enter the US.

The border guard that processed our landing papers explicitly told us that if you were to travel to the US, you normally would need a visa if not from a visa-exempt country, but my wife being American, obviously, she can just enter the US with her US passport.

 

[YorkFactory]

The paper I-94W form is being phased out in favor of the ETSA (https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/) which for a $14 fee provides multiple/entry exit (although having traveled with a business colleague back and forth across the border, I've observed that it's not particularly well implemented for land crossings yet, but it is for air travel, although that was over a year ago.)

I crossed the border via bus in mid-December, and as I'm used to seeing, there were a couple of people who didn't speak English and didn't understand why they were expected to have exactly US$6 right then. So it still wasn't implemented as of then.