bmac800

I am going to Canada on holiday and was planning a few days in New York.From what I can gather from the US embassy website we can get into the US from Canada by filling in a visa waiver form and paying $6 at the point of entry.We have new British passports and no convictions - can anyone confirm this is correct.

Dave1980

if you have british passports with at least 6 months left on them then it shouldnt be a problem.

not sure about the $6 bit though.

Old Farquar

Whenever we've been to the states we've just filled in the green visa waver form on the plane, can't see that you'd need to do anything different. You'll need an address for a hotel or wherever you're staying though.

Markus

I'm living and working in Canada at the moment and have travelled to the US many times whilst here.

You will need to fill out the I-94W Waiver form, which is a green form. If you are flying into the US, you'll get one at the airport, usually they'll give you one when you get your boarding pass, if not, there will be loads around as you're waiting in line to clear US Immigration. I've never been charged to enter when flying into the US as I believe this charge is built into the ticket price.

If you're entering the US by land then when you pull up to the border crossing they'll wave you over to the immigration center, where, again, you'll need to fill out the I-94W. You WILL need to pay, and they ONLY take US Dollars,, so make sure you have at least US$20 on you. It should be US$6 but it's worth having a little more cash, if only to get drink whilst you wait around for them to deal with you. You CANNOT pay using debit/credit cards. Usually they'll point you to an ATM if you don't have cash, but as said, it's best to come prepared.

Depending on when and where you're entering by land, you could be sitting around for a while before you get up to the entry point. There may also be a toll prior to you getting there. I know that when entering/exiting the US in Sarnia/Port Huron the bridge you go over is a toll bridge, and it costs CAD$2.75 / US$2.50. They, unlike US Customs and Immigration, do accept both US and Canadian funds, but again no credit/debit cards.

You will need to be able to provide an address where you are staying, regardless of how you get into the US. I would strongly recommend you print out the hotel details to show to the immigration officer.

For the official word on this, have a look here.

From personal experience, don't mess around with the Customs/Immigration people. No small talk, or joking. The majority of them seem to have had a humour bypass and in some cases their civility has been bypassed as well. There are some good guys/gals out there, but not many. The majority of them really do seem to want to know why you have the audacity to want to come into their great country and that if they don't like you, they won't let you in.

God forbid that you're entering the US on business, it's even worse. They really do think everyone is trying to rob the US of money or steal jobs that american citizens could do. I've gone over to give pre-sale demonstrations of our prodcucts, and they have suggested that next time I bring product (client downloaded product before hand to see what it did themselves, no need to waste money sending a boxed copy), and also that I should bring a purchase order I was a good lad and kept my mouth shut and didn't ask the chap how I could actually have a purchase order for an order that hadn't happened yet as I was on the way to give a pre-sales demo, and the client might, based on that demo, not order the product.

Anyway, rant over. Once you're in, it's not a problem, and getting back into Canada should be a breeze, just turn up, show your passport and in you go. They even seem to have a sense of humor at Canadian Immigration

Freak

I cannot emphasise how true this is.
After being giveing a proper grilling - twice- when I landed a week or so ago and asked such ****ing stupid questions - twice- as to why I had the nerve to visit sometimes at least once a month and didn't have a boring 9-5 'normal' job and thus have lots of time to travel lots.
Can't wait until I am eventually a citizen.....then it *should* be hassle free. Should.

Markus

Good luck with the citizenship application, might help if you're mexican

The main reason we're in Canada is because US Immigration simply would not give the majority of us work permits. We had an office in the US already and we did want to employ US citizens, however, to start off we'd need to relocate four people from the UK, myself included, who were highly skilled. We would then, after a period of seeing if things are working, employ and train a few US citizens. Alas they did not seem to like this idea, as we'd be taking away jobs from the yanks. We explained that unless we're recruiting from the entire country, which would involve relocating the potential employee's, which is something we'd not want to do off the bat, there would be no one in the local area who had the skill set we needed.
Even still, if we relocated to a more tech like area, there is still no guarantee that we'd find the staff we want, due to the niche aspect of our products. We knew North America was our big market, but you don't go ***** out unless you're totally sure it'll work, we wanted to be cautious and for that we paid the price.

So we would fly out to the office for a month at a time every couple of months. We'd try to tie this in with on-site visits, so we'd end up entering the US at different airports, so it didn't look too dodgy, but there were a couple of trips where we'd have to go through the same airport.

After a while of doing this, and the MD getting grilled on every single entry to the US we'd had enough. We wanted to do things legitimately, to pay US taxes, but they, for some reason, didn't want that to happen.

At this point we spoke to immigration canada who were more than happy to give us all the information we asked for, and said that it'd be no problem at all to open an office and staff it with non canadian citizens, hence the reason why we're based in Canada and not the US.

The thing that really brings it home to you, about how **** and great they think they are is when you travel to another country, for example, entering Canada or the UK. I've witnessed entry to both of these countries, as a citizen (entering the UK as myself, and Rose entering the UK as a Canadain Citizen) and as a visitor (myself entering Canada, Rose entering the UK). Yes there is a bit of a line up, but you're not interrogated or made to feel small and not worthy of entry to the country. Hell, I turned up at Pearson International Airport, said to the immigration official that I'd like to apply for a work permit, she smiled, said "welcome to Canada, please follow the signs to the immigration department", off I went and 30 mins later I had a work permit (ok, so I did have all the paperwork I needed).

I dread to think what would happen if I wanted to do the same when entering the US. I'd probably still be sitting there with them asking the same stupid questions over and over again

Freak

Helps even more if you are married to a US citizen

Understand your frustrations 1000%.
In my case 20+ entries in around 2 years I suppose does look a little suspect in some respects, but still no need for the abuse they gave me last week.
First time I have ever had reason to be pissed off and worried by them to be honest, and I just know its going to happen next month too.
I have a strong suspicion one of my I94W green departure records got lost between me handing it in at the gate and being processed- I think on one of my exits between dec- march time, hence the hassle just starting and the type of questions they were asking me.

As for UK immigration, I'm registered with the IRIS scheme, so havent had to deal with an agent or even take my passport out of my bag when entering the uk since last summer
Look into the screen, and done in 5 seconds with no human interaction. Works perfectly.

bmac800

Thanks for the help - dont know if we will bother now.There is two people I work with who went to the States last year and both said they got a terrible grilling at immigration.

Freak

Oh no -dont let us put you off. Its only because we go regularly that we encounter hassle.
For the vast majority, although they are miserable, its no problem getting into the country.
Don't let it stop you from seeing New York.....its a wonderful place and my adopted home. Its so close it would be criminal not to.

Jerome

Whatever you do, do not step over the red line in front of the immigration desks until specifically invited.

A mate of mine did and some meatball bone-headed ex-US marine lookalike screamed at him to get behind the line. He only had his toe on the line and didn't realise this guy was talking to him. When he unclipped his sidearm, pretty much everyone started stepping backwards and the guard went back to standing there looking hard and angry. Welcome to America.

This was in 1994, so what they are like post 9/11 I dread to think.

Markus

The thing that gets me about the I-94W is that if it was lost, so they had no record of you exiting the US, then why hassle you when you show up ENTERING the US, quite probably from another country, and at an airport, so the only normal way that would happen is that you've flown there. Thus there is a fairly large indication that you did indeed leave the US within the time specified by the visa.

Anyway, none of our comments should put anyone off entering the US. NYC is a good place, as our some other states and towns in the US. It's unfortunate that your first impression of the US could be drawn from the customs/immigration people, so try and overlook that.

Freak

Exactly
And don't forget the other loophole....
Buy fully refundable ticket from (random airport example that I know has them) Denver to london.
Online check in and print your boarding pass.
Go through security.
Use the self service country exit machine (I kid you not) and get your receipt.
Exit the secure area and get a refund on your ticket.
You have a receipt saying you left the US on such and such date. Now feel free to stay for as long as you want, then you can leave at leisure and reenter with no problems.

It is a total farce.
I do actually have a little wallet with every single boarding pass from entering and leaving the states with me whenever I am there so I can prove I have never overstayed.

Jerome

I totally agree. I've loved every one of my trips to the US and would go again in a heartbeat.

amahrap

don't try to enter the US with a Pakistan visa - believe me you have no idea what a grilling is until you try this (a very interesting experience)

wayne9t9

Sounds dodgy to me..."exit the secure area"...I thought that was one way traffic. Ever done this or known anyone to do it?..

Avi

I got a right grilling when i landed at Boston. taken to an interrogation room.. all my bags emptied and searched. Just about made my connection to Miami. ( there was 4 hours between flights!!). The guys at the immigration desk were scary as hell.. the Guy who searched my bag (in another room again) seemed a nice enough guy though. Maybe he had to much of a personality to be "cutomer facing"

Don;t know what was so suspicious about me.. i was on my own, going to visit my girlfriend who studied at Miami university last year.. maybe it was the women's clothes in my case

Jerome

Make sure you leave your **** tickler deep penetration ***** at home as well. The hassle that caused me...

Freak

No its not one way
You can do it at any airport- even heathrow. Not like you will have left anything in there- they screen you on your way in remember.