paul2587 said:
Dpenabill et al.,
just wondering if any of you have experienced (or heard of others experiencing) any issues with your entry/exit record when you are in a situation similar to mine. I'm a US citizen and Canadian PR living in Nova Scotia. I frequently drive across the land border to Calais, Maine to visit family. I have Nexus and have had it since I became a PR, but I don't always use it; I also have a US enhanced driver's licence and a regular passport which I've used on land and air crossings out of and into Canada.
Here's my problem: I am getting ready to apply for citizenship and I recently requested records from both the US CBP and CBSA. Both have come back and said they have no record of my entries/exits with my passport, EDL or Nexus info. And yes, I've provided both CBP and CBSA with all of the info on all three travel documents I've used. I know the US/Canada haven't always tracked the entries/exits of their own citizens but I thought this was changing with the WHTI. I'm extremely worried I won't be able to provide an accurate record of my trips to the US given that neither country seems to have a record of me ever leaving or re-entering Canada and we don't get passport stamps for US/Canada land border crossings.
Any thoughts?
I largely concur in what
keesio posted:
keesio said:
Some border crossings are very lax - they check your documents but don't stamp or record the info. For these cases, it is recommended to carefully log your entry/exit. It sounds like you have not been and hoping to rely on records kept by CBSA and CBP. The best you can do is put your best guess for the dates. IRCC tends to give Americans the benefit of the doubt for travel between US and Canada in regards to scrutiny. When I applied for citizenship in 2013 as a US citizen with Canadian PR and a NEXUS member, I had like 70+ trips between US and Canada. I kept pretty good personal records but screwed up a date here or there. I applied with enough buffer over the minimum number of days which helped. Since you will have to guess, I would apply with a lot of buffer days to be safe. That is probably the best thing you can do.
That said, I am not so sure that
"IRCC tends to give Americans the benefit of the doubt for travel between US and Canada in regards to scrutiny."
There have been, for example, more than a few American citizens report, in this and in other forums, being issued RQ, including the author of the Wordpress website where there is quite a lot of information about the RQ process posted.
In contrast, my strong impression is that factors indicating the completeness and accuracy of the applicant's information, including especially travel declarations, will make a big positive difference, while in contrast any indication the applicant's information is incomplete or inaccurate pushes things the other way.
The FAQs for the presence calculation suggest an applicant can estimate or approximate trips to the U.S. if the actual dates or number of days is unknown. I have addressed this in multiple topics. No rocket science or advanced degrees in jurisprudence are necessary to recognize that the less accurate an applicant's declarations are, the less reliable the applicant is as a reporter of facts, so the real question is just how much can an applicant estimate and IRCC still rely on the applicant's declarations? There is no definitive answer to that question. But for the applicant who cannot affirmatively declare, completely and accurately, the exact dates of all trips outside Canada, this question is, nonetheless, the critical question.
How big a deal this is probably depends on the extent to which the applicant estimates, and the extent to which the rest of the information about the applicant supports the applicant's case. For example, the applicant with a regular job with an easily verified Canadian employer, who works at a particular location in Canada, is likely to be given, as
keesio says, more benefit of the doubt; in contrast, a person who is self-employed or has significant periods of unemployment, not so likely to be such a beneficiary.
But there are many, many other factors which can influence how things go. Pattern of travel, for example.
Obviously, the best approach is to get all the dates right, and the next best thing is to get nearly all the dates right. Since a PR is the only person in the world who for sure was there each and every time the PR exited Canada and entered Canada, the PR is really the one best source of this information. If the PR kept complete records. Yeah,
coulda, shoulda, woulda, if only you knew how important it was.
There are no easy guidelines. One can readily say, as
keesio alludes, the more you estimate, the bigger your margin should be. Estimating day trips is one thing. Missing overnight trips is another.
paul2587 said:
. . . Both [U.S. and CBSA] have come back and said they have no record of my entries/exits with my passport, EDL or Nexus info.
Must say, however, that
NO records of your border crossings raises a red flag. Mine certainly were well shy of being complete, but most of my crossings showed up one way or another. Going back a decade plus. (Less though on the Canadian side.)
I know some particular border crossing locations, in the past, did not capture anywhere near complete border crossing data. I am not familiar with those between New Brunswick and Maine.
But this still rings odd to me. Lax is one thing. No records is another. Something seems askew. Cannot guess what that is. Something.
Thus, I understand the concern expressed here:
paul2587 said:
Not quite. I have kept records, but as was likely the case for you, my records are probably not perfect and there are some inaccuracies after five years of travelling home on a monthly (and sometimes bi-monthly) basis on weekends. I was hoping until recently to back up and validate my records with CBSA/CBP records, but the lack thereof is why I wrote my original post on here. I don't understand how in 5 years of traveling back and forth (and 3 years as a PR), there isn't a single entry or exit for me with either agency. I guess it's bad luck. Thanks for the info.
Most of what I wrote above I wrote before this last post. This last post suggests that the extent to which you will need to estimate is relatively minimal. With a good margin over the minimum, minimal estimations should not be much of a problem. Just be sure to acknowledge the extent to which you are estimating or approximating.
But yeah, the absence of any crossings indicated in your records invites some head scratching.
Also got to say, though, if someplace outside Canada is still "home," there should be no need to rush getting Canadian citizenship.
