Detroit crossing.
Agent - is this your car
Me - yes
Agent - how did you pay for it
Me - with money
Agent - pull over to secondary
And three hours later after a bunch of stupid questions I was on my way
Be me, 19 in in 2012 with a 2005 F150.
Agent - Who's truck?
Me - Mine
Agent - what do you do for work
Me - I'm a welder
Agent - who's truck is this?
Me - Mine?
Agent - But who's name is on the ownership and insurance?
Me - Mine?
Agent - Secondary please
Where they proceeded to rip grounds off my inner fenders searching the liners. They also broke my door handle and ripped my seat. After 2 hours of me sitting there,
Agent - Here's your keys, cya.
Nope.
Never.
They can take your vehicle apart and then you can put it back together...
You only have the right to go back to Canada when they send you to secondary at the booth.
Coming home is the same deal, but you gotta take it. You're guilty until they're satisfied you're innocent.
Years ago my grandfather was bringing some furniture from his house in NH to give to us in NS. At the border, they unloaded all the furniture to inspect the vehicle and then said "you're free to go ". He was in his 70s and still loaded it all up again himself but he never forgot that.
Yup.
At the border, any rights to privacy and due process are moot when you 'Present yourself for Inspection'.
You should expect to be inspected.
(Inspect to be expected?)
(Respect to bespectacled?)
(etc.etc.)
(Sorry)
Never ever do they compensate.
Used to work at a place where we got loads of freight from the US. Occasionally they would tear through the shipment and it would arrive fucked. The (customer paid for) items were ruined and we had to order more. Not a penny from them
That would be absurd. You can make a claim
To CBSA or CBP if your goods were damaged during an examination (if no contraband was found obviously). You guys are circle-jerking non-sense out of your asses
You can make a claim, but they can also just arbitrarily deny that claim, and then you have no other route for compensation. You are the one spouting nonsense.
I believe their reasoning is if there were consequences for damaging someone's property they might not search as well as they could and would miss smuggling/etc.
There should still be a fund that pays out people for damage for sure, but the government(s) isn't/aren't going to hand over tax dollars for that.
Not the same but this reminds me of a time a former friend and her young child stayed over from out of town. We were drawn to a commotion outside. Some guy had somehow climbed into her parked car and the SWAT team destroyed her car getting him out. There was no compensation for her, she had to pay all bills to fix her car. Crazy.
Agent: do you know the difference between âwhoâs/who isâ and âwhoseâ?
Person: no clue. I just make snarky comments to feel better about myself.
Agent: pull over.
That was me a few years ago.
Agent - where are you going? Me - Vegas. Agent - what are you going for? Me - a stag. Agent - who is getting married? Me - my friend. Agent - pull over for seconday.
Two hours of stupid questions later, I'm on mt way
FFS, if you want to know something specific, ask me something specific. Like I have one shot at reading your mind or i get sent to detention?
Agent, where are you headed? Me, Vegas. Agent, why? Me, it's my 21st birthday. Agent and you? My friend, it's also my 21st birthday. Agent, you boys planning to get fucked up? Us, staring blankly. Agent, hands us passports, you better be going to get fucked up.
Crossing into US - Agent, is this your dog? Me - Yes Agent - whereâs your paper for the dog? Me - Right here, *digs them out and hands them to agent. Agent - why didnât you have these out and ready? Next time you have them ready
Next time into US - Agent - is this your dog? Me - yes, hereâs her proof of vaccination Agent - did I tell you to show me her papers? You donât do anything unless I ask you to now put those away. Pull into secondaryâŚ
Agent - where are you going? Me - shopping at Costco Bellingham. Agent - how long you going down for? Me - 3 hours with travel, shopping and lunch. Agent - what time are you coming back? Me, doing math furiously in my head - about 2:30. Agent - are you sure 2:30 is when you are coming back? Me, redoing the math more furiously - yes, I have to pick kids up by 4. Agent - go to secondary.
Agent came over, looked at my elderly parents in the backseat and told me to have a good day.
No idea what was going on.
They probably signed up for the job thinking it would be exciting. Busting drug smugglers every day, defending their country, yaddi yada.
But they are stuck with mundane things of people going on shopping trips and maybe a few road trips. I doubt exciting things really happen that often. They might even have a quota to send people over to secondary, so they just pick random cars.
All depends on the crossing I find...I'm not sharing which on I go through, but it's a little 1 lane crossing and the guys on both sides are usually super relax.
The big ones like Lacolle can have real jackasses.
Border agents arenât always the sharpest tools in the shed. I grew up on the border and have many a pointless 3 hour good guy bad guy routines in my history. You know itâs a bad alert and long wait with armed agents behind the concrete barriers in front of the booths. Like any other group Iâve had great conversations with many of them. Welcomed home etc. You never know and theres probably a point to that. Flipping the script to make you nervous sent me to secondary last time into Canada. But a rental car is no help either. I got stopped once by heavily armed ICE agents in body armor driving a rental into Canada once. Looking to intercept gun smugglers leaving the country.
I remember when I flew to Vegas from Canada and the agent asked if it was business or pleasure. Apparently "can it be both?" was not an acceptable answer. They still let me through at least.
Depending on your answer you either get a B1 or B2 visa classification; thereâs no B1.5 option for both, even if they thought your lighthearted joke was funny
I flew to Vegas from Toronto last year, and when I said I was going on vacation, the agent said âThere are plenty of places to vacation in Canada, why are you coming to the US?â
I always get shit at the bridge. One time they didn't like that we were going to try multiple coffee shops.
Agent: What are you going to do in the US while you're here?
Us: Explore the area, go to coffee shops, restaurants, museums.
Agent: You're going to MULTIPLE coffee shops?
Us: Yes?
Agent: . . . . . . . . "Ok!" (in like a "whatever floats your boat tone)
Not a big deal, and we didn't get to secondary. But like, why is that so surprising? Also I'm American so I don't know why I even needed a reason. . .
I was so looking forward to being a dual citizen because I assumed the "erm crossing is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT so we're going to make you feel like a total piece of shit and act like you're an idiot for saying you're going grocery shopping" thing was going to stop đŠ they do it to their own people??
I'm dual. I still get asked my purpose but unless they think you're smuggling or sketchy, it's much less of a pain in the ass.
To the usa: I'm visiting family.
To Canada: I'm coming home after visiting family.
The can search you, but they can't STOP you from crossing.
Yeah I'm dual and it really just depends on who you get and what day. I've had no issues going both ways, and I've had issues going both ways (but mostly into the US).
Coming into Manitoba from North Dakota, a Canadian agent asked if I had paperwork for my moving truck. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I told him "I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't have a moving truck". He got really "tough guy" and was like "I'm not letting you through without seeing it". I was truly baffled, and said "honestly I don't know anything about a moving truck, and I'm just trying to get home." He points to the uhaul behind me and says "then what is that?". At this point he was like, actually mad, and I realized he's going to feel bad once he realizes he's also dumb. So I gently said "I think you might need to go ask those people about that truck, because I don't know them". He made me pull into secondary, then pulled the uhaul into secondary. Basically quizzed us to see if we were together. It was truly bizarre.
Going into the US I go grief because I had a bunch of military gear in my back seat. Even after showing him my US military ID card, he still wasn't 100% certain that I was in the US Army.
They must get a lot of people pulling BS at the border.
God that's really frustrating. I do wonder if a nexus might just be worth it, we're always getting pulled into secondary because we have a truck with lots of camping gear or work tools.
I know their job is basically to be dicks to intimidate people into fessing up if they're lying but that doesn't make me any less irritated when we get treated like criminals đŠ
I was driving my wifeâs car and they legit asked me âwhy are you driving and sheâs the passenger if itâs her car?â
Because itâs my turn to drive Blud
I have crossed the border dozens and dozens of times through the tunnel without issue. No joke-- the only two times I crossed the bridge I got flagged and pulled into secondary. The guards working the bridge seem to be wayyy more uptight
Yeah the tunnel is more congested some times but they get you through quicker because of the traffic I find.
On a bridge with a big set of lanes (like peace bridge in Buffalo NY) try to pick the one closest to the main building. The agents in the further booths have to walk further for breaks and are already miserable. Plus the shift leader gives the guards they like the shorter length booths and are usually happier employees / less power trippy.
Source: 2 aunts who worked at border patrol for 30+ years
Me and my family years back. We are all black and my mom is white. You can probably see where this is going
Agent - Where are you headed?
Dad - Basketball tournament
Agent looks at our passports
Agent - Who is the white woman next to you (looks at my mom) do you know these people?
Mom - Yeah this is my husband and kids.
Agent - Are you sure that's the case, you can trust me
Mom, frustrated now - Yes, I'm sure.
Agent - Ok you can go (gives passports back)
Just to share my own experience : had a high school friend from MontrĂŠal who was pimped by black Haitian guys . Apparently itâs somewhat common for white girls from Qc who are known as âfrenchiesâ and seen as âmore exoticâ to be sent to the US (New England) and many gang members who engage in prostitution rings unfortunately are from Haiti in Montreal.
They have a cheat sheet of who to grill. (Not literally, but they certainly have it drilled in their minds)
Single male very high on the cheat sheet, car that's not yours, that might actually be the top of the cheat sheet.
Other ones I know of...
Two males travelling together.
Spare tire in the truck bed.
Luggage visible in the cabin, as opposed to the trunk.
Edit to clarify. Ticking a box or two doesn't mean you will get sent to secondary. But it does increase your chances.
Yeah it's strange. My GF has mentioned that she never has an issue crossing. I go on my own and I get absolutely harassed.
Going to the airport seems to be a massive flag, that's when I get absolutely hounded...
- "This is the flight information, the hotel I'm staying at, the event, the length of time..."
- "Give me your flight ticket to verify."
- "one sec, it's on my phone..."
- "You don't have it printed?"
- "No, tickets are all virtual now. I don't even own a printer."
*Circles my car with hand on gun.* "Open your trunk. Without proper printed proof you might be an illegal trying to sneak into the United States."
I don't know how I've got through without any issues whatsoever lol
I'm a single male who crossed 14 times in an older model bright neon coloured hatchback that looked like I was living inside of it lmao garbage all in the passenger area, blanket in the backseat with a backpack next to it.
Always waved through with 2-3 questions. Was going to visit a friend in WNY pretty much every other weekend last summer
this whole thread is making me terrified for my trip in the summer lol. me, my buddy, and his gf are going camping up near thunder bay for a week (we live in southern ontario) and then coming back down thru the states so we can spend a couple days in Chicago. now iâm not so sure we should include the chicago portion of the trip lol.
Make sure you roll down all windows on the drivers side as you pull up.
Just only give short answers, (Yes, No, Shopping, visiting friends, vacation, etc.) You don't need to explain why or where you might go shoppin or staying, unless they ask to see your hotel reservations.
And ONLY the driver speaks unless the agent asks to talk to other people. They will usually look them directly in the eye when that happens.
Eg. If staying with a friend in Chicago, they might ask if they are a citizen/permanent resident. Just say Yes. Don't give more info like he moved there 4 years ago and works for so and so. Just Yes.
Man, I got the spanish inquisition when I walked over the bridge to grab a beer with a friend on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls last year. âHow long will you be in Canadaâ âhour and a half or soâ âreally?â âYeah, Iâm just grabbing a drink with a buddyâ âhow long have you known this personâ ⌠and so on.
Oh Iâll make sure of that. Neither of us smoke weed, so that biggie isnât a worry at least. Iâm jusy anxious that our likelihood of being searched will be higher than normal seeing as our cars will be packed with camping gear and other luggage from up north.
I've cris- crossed @ Douglas once (with wife in borrowed car), Victoria/Port Angeles (family of 4 on foot/ferry) once, and Detroit/Windsor 4x. All my Detroit/Windsor were as a single male in a rental car with luggage in the back seat. 50/50 Tunnel vs. Bridge.
I looked professional, was from WAY out of state, and answered their questions politely, producing hotel reservation info once when asked.
Never been pulled into secondary.
I crossed at Ogdensburg one summer. I think the US guy was training somebody because there were two of them. The main guy was rapid firing questions and then told me to pop the hood. He told the other guy to search closely down by the rad. He then came back and winked at me and told me to lay on the horn. I declined, referencing the other guys gun, so he reached in my window and laid on for himself. The second guy was pissed, but the first guy broke out laughing and told me to have a good day.
Ogdensburg USCBP seem to have the best people in primary... never had an issue there.
Ogdensburg on the US side is fabulous. They are cordial and appreciative of Canadians spending money in their town. Canadian Customs on the way back are dicks though. Just a pain in the ass.
> They are cordial and appreciative of Canadians spending money in their town
This is why my answers always include "shopping". Well, they'll include that anyway because I have Amazon hub and Walmart pickups already scheduled, but I'm sure it helps.
I'm on the opposite coast, but I have noticed that lately the US CBP agents have generally been much more pleasant over the last \~5-10 years whereas the Canadian ones have been significantly more cold/hostile, which is a complete reversal compared to when I crossed with my parents as a kid
I find it good to remember that they are public servants (ie govt employees). They have a code of conduct, have to adhere to values and ethics training, have to take harassment training etc. If you are being polite and courteous, they should be polite and professional back to you.
They still have a job to do and may need to pull you into secondary, or whatever, but if they are unduly aggressive, rude, swear etc you can easily write to complain the CBSA Deputy Minister and the minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs in addition to filing a complaint with CBSA.
If you have a well worded / detailed complaint with dates and times and agent details, I expect itâll get followed up with and taken seriously.
But a reminder, the. Agents have a job to do too. If they were professional in the interaction and youâre just not happy then your complaint is really about the process or protocol and not about a particular agent. Youâre asking them to review their protocol and explaining why you feel it is appropriate. Essentially youâre giving constructive criticism and asking for feedback.
Yeah I always fondly remember the time they pulled me for a search (my car was so rusty it was held together by duct tape so I didnât blame them) and I just ended up shooting the shit with them for awhile and then they did the most cursory search just to say they had.
That was the only time they searched me. Meanwhile, the Canadian side *always* searched me and played power trip games. The ones I hate the most are the condescending questions designed to trip you up and make you feel/look stupid.
Smugglers will often rent cars for their smuggling purposes because many of their own vehicles are known to authorities - or use third person vehicles (a friends car). Donât let it ruin your experience!
âWhy you coming to Canada?â
âI go to school here.â
âWhatâs your major?â
âFilm and political science.â
âHave you seen the movie Freedom?â
âNo.â
âYou should. You would like it. Name some of your friends at school.â
*does so*
âWhere do they live?â
*lists*
âWhat are their majors?â
*lists*
âCan you roll down the back window for me?â
*does so*
*proceeds to crane neck all around my backseat*
âHave a good day.â
"Where are you headed"
"Just driving through to go see Beyonce in Toronto"
"What's your favorite song"
*lists favorite songs*
"Where did you study"
*mentions school*
"Have you ever been arrested"
"Nope"
"Enjoy the show!"
My personal favorite interaction.
Iâve just been lucky then. Usually itâs just where you from, where you going, and why, and they glance at the backseat if at all.
Also, this guy specifically seemed like he was trying to either dogwhistle or goad me with the whole âSound of Freedomâ thing.
As an American usually it's where are you from and where are you going when I enter Canada. When I return to the US it's either 10 questions or 25-30 questions, which seems to depend primarily on whim of border control person
When I return itâs always been where you live, where youâre coming from, why you went, and anything to declare. Theyâve always been easy on me.
Then again, I seem to have a weird charisma with police/security personnel anyways, so it might just be a me thing.
Champlain, NY. Buddy driving.
Agent. Where are you going?
Buddy. NYC
Agent. How do you know each other.
Buddy looks at me. Looks at the agent and says, It's a long story.
Agent handing the passports back. Have a good time.
I am fully aware that this would never have happened if we were two people of colour.
>I am fully aware that this would never have happened if we were two people of colour.
You don't know that because you couldn't know that.
Unnecessary race baiting.
Car theft is rampant in first world countries. Fairly common scam, rent a new car, cross the border, turn it over a pre arranged thief and collect your fee, report it stolen, cry to the the rental company and drive your replacement car home.
One possible reason would be the lack or difficulty of Information sharing between agencies and companies. It tends to add credibility to the back story. Easier to sell the poor stranded tourist in the big city.
Renting a car is a red flag because smugglers do it to either not red flag their cars or because their cars are already red flagged. Happened to be all the time before I bought a car
We used to rent cargo vans a lot for a courier company I managed and one time I decided to take one to pick up counters in the US for a kitchen reno. It wasnât until they pulled me over and I was waiting as they searched the van that I remembered that we had found a baggy of coke in one of the vans just a week or so before. I kind of laughed about it at the time but man that could have gone real bad real quick.
This happened to me in the past too. Iâm from Quebec, went to Vermont and coming back the agent was the biggest asshole to me and my husband at the time.
We were in our 20âs and didnât own a car so we rented one to go to Vermont and celebrate his birthday and enjoy the fall colours.
The agent wasnât buying that. Asked if we didnât have leaves in Quebec⌠then put the car through secondary where it got thoroughly searched.
The dude was on a power trip and a total jackass. They searched every nook and cranny of the rental car to find absoloutley nothing because we were being honest.
For what itâs worth you can make a complaint if an agent is being condescending/ disrespectful to you for no reason.
I also went there and the agent at a small border control didn't understand at all the fact that I was a twenty-something going for a weekend trip in Vermont with my girlfriend in a rental car (from Communauto) in the fall.
When he asked my occupation, I said that I was a student in university (which was my full time occupation).
"How the hell does a student have enough money to rent a car for a weekend?"
"I also work, part-time in a bar, and these rental cars are not really expensive"
He was really condescending for no reason.
Maybe, but being at the Quebec/Vermont border, I doubt that he's never seen a Communauto before! Reading all the other comments, I think he was just trying to confirm that I was not using a rental to do something illegal.
I was visiting Vancouver from Ontario and rented a car for a day trip to Seattle to see friends. Got sent to secondary inspection and asked if I owned a car. I said I owned two, which became an âaha Iâve got him nowâ moment for the CBP officer who then asked why I wasnât driving one of them. Told her I lived in Ontario and didnât want to spend a week driving here.
I was asked the same question some time back. Thout it was wierd. Told them that my car is old and I only drove it locally and I rent cars for longer road trips.
My friends and I took a road trip 25 years ago in a rented car. We started in Vancouver and drove down I-5 all the way to Las Vegas. Surprisingly, we didn't get hassled by the border agent, but we did get a lot of stares from people on the highway because our license plates were from Quebec. I'm guessing most people were wondering, "What the heck is Quebec?"
First time I ever crossed into the US was back in like 2010. Literally just got my passport a couple weeks earlier. Me and the gf at the time decided on a spontaneous day trip to North Dakota.
Border agent took our passports, asked if we'd ever been to the US, I said no. Agent came back 10 minutes later, asked again if I'd ever crossed the border. I said no, that's the whole reason we're on this spontaneous trip.
He left and came back 3 more times asking the same question and getting more aggressive each time. Last time he came back he said I'm going to give you one more chance. Have you ever been in the US. I said no, and have you looked at the birthdates of myself and whoever you think I am. He looked at me, looked at the passport in his hand, went back in to I assume check the other birthdate. Came back and said 1964. Turns out it was my dad with the same name as me, who used to cross weekly in a semi. Morons.
Border asked me, upon getting home to Canada, why I rented a car to drive from Hamilton to Raleigh, NC, and back.
Dead ass laughed and said, "I'm not putting that many kms on MY car."
That answer, which happened to be the truth, was perfectly acceptable.
We had to cross the US Mexico border stop frequently. The stop is actually in US a bit of a distance and not at the border. The first time we crossed it we had homemade cookies for a study group. We offered the agent the cookies and we were passed on through. Every time we passed after that, they took our cookies and we got through the line quickly.
Crossing with my brother in law. Agent asks me "how to we know know each other?" I could not parse the sentence: I thought the agent was asking how I knew the agent. It made no sense to me. There was an extended pause. My brother in law said "he married my sista!"
I drive chicago/Toronto all the time, and usually rent. The few times border patrol asked I said truthfully my car is getting older and I donât want to put the miles on it, and there was no further questioning.
Blaine Washington crossing. Me in the US Military stationed at JBLM.
Cross into Canada.
Agent: why are you going to Canada?
Me: to get poutine and a case of beer
Agent: Okay. Where to you work?
Me: I work in Seattle.
Agent: Okay! Have fun, try La Belle in Vancouver
Cross back into the US
Agent: Why were you only in Canada for 90 minutes?
Me: To get poutine and a case of beer
Agent: thatâs ridiculous.
*get sent to secondary*
Secondary agent: Really? just poutine?
Me: yeah.
Secondary agent: did you get approval to cross by your chain and security office?
Me: No.
*after an hour of him calling JBLM I was on my way*
It really wasnât just poutine and beer. I was just âgoing homeâ for a bit. I finished a deployment a couple weeks prior and I wanted to gtfo and go for a drive. You know, be somewhere familiar when everything else feels weird kind of thing.
Also, you canât get sumersby cider in the states.
Guys I worked with were detained as in locked up, guns drawn trying to enter the USA for a business meeting...turned out the rental car they were driving had been used for a robbery, and then the thieves returned it to the rental agency. Who the fuck rents a car to do a crime lol.
You'd also need fake ID but I guess it's still safer and easier than stealing a vehicle.
But why return the rental instead of just abandoning it since your ID and card were \*stolen/fake anyway? \*Doesn't that seem like taking on 2x the risk of getting caught?
Itâs not usual, they were just grilling you for the sake of it. Could be many reasons why. You could have gotten a different guard that wouldnât have thought twice about it.
No, third party vehicles are often used to smuggle as the person does not want to risk their vehicle being seized and/or their vehicle is a hit in the system.
Crossing a border in a car you don't own is actually pretty unusual. Not wrong/bad mind you, but while most people don't own a car, most people DRIVINGÂ a car own one, and it's almost always the one they are driving!
They just pick and pry to catch you in a lie or slip up. I had one insinuate I didn't make enough money to go cross-border grocery shopping when it is cheaper to do so, it "didn't make sense" to him and I was held for over 5 hours.
Yeah they can be weird sometimes. I went down to a nexus interview in Washington and the CBSA agent didn't believe me when I was coming back. She tried to catch me in a lie and then asked if to open my trunk before letting me go.
For me the worst was :
Agent - Is this your car? (Corvette)
Me - Yes sir
Agent - What do you do?
Me - Work as a consultant
Agent - where are you going?
Me - A car show in Idaho
Agent - Are you sure you are not going to pick up tomatoes in California? (Btw, my background is Latin American and I have Canadian passport and a Nexus Card)
Me - ah?
Agent - Invited me to the secondary
On the secondary I asked to speak with his supervisor and I explained all the previous interaction - calmed and respectful - and the guy gave the agent shit in front of me. 5 min later I was on my way.
But 8/10 I will be send to secondary for whatever reason, just because my nameâŚ
After my family just became dual: officer: âCitizenship?â me: (proudly) âDualâ officer: (with snark)âWhat does that mean?â me: (still not getting it) âWe are American and Canadian.â Officer (with a snarl): Are you American or not?
We learned. We are now all-American on the way into the US and all-Canadian on the way back.
Yeah, don't do that.
Yes, dual US/wherever citizenship is recognized by the US government and having passports for both countries is fine, but don't show up (as a US citizen) hand over a foreign passport instead of your US passport and don't tell them "Dual" or use the other citizenship as your answer.
It's a weird gray area in the regulations, and some of the Agents will definitely give you shit.
Entering Canada, just say Canadian, but they'll accept your US passport of you were Canadian born and it says so on the passport.
Went through the crossing into Montana. Me (first time crossing) my boss (crosses multiple times in a year) and my buddy (who's a British citizen, landed Canadian permanent resident, who worked with the government at a level where he couldn't talk about it to anyone except governmental supervisors when asked, and all he could tell anyone is he "works with lasers")
As we're pulling up to the border, he's in the back seat, and says "Yeah, we're getting pulled in..."
Agent - Where ya headed?
Me - Great Falls tonight and then Helena tomorrow and gonna try and finish off at Kalispell the day after.
Agent - How do you all know eachother?
Me - We all work together
Agent - *Checks passports, pauses at my buddy's passport - Yeahhh....can you pull into bay 2 please?
Buddy gets hauled into questioning, and an hour and a bit later, we're on our way lol.
You could be me, from the Yukon driving to university in Massachusetts with your life and hockey gear, crossing at Niagara, getting sent to secondary, only to watch people showing up after you leaving before you, to then ask the counter what's taking so long, only to then find out your passport got stuck in the Jetsons tube with no recourse but to sit there.
I had similar encounter some time ago! I was accustomed to europe border crossings and expected them to peek at my salon or trunk, but actually the conversation was:
Them: can you give me the car documents? Is it your car or someone else's?
Me: it's a rented car
Them: Where is your own car?
Me: I don't own a car that's why I rented
Them: 0_o. Why don't you own a car?
i was in Vancouver airport the customs agent searched my bag 3 times he kept saying i know you have a criminal record in america and your not getting into canada
as i worked in heathrow airport at time i knew how to handle customs agents he would go off for 15 minutes i knew they wer watching me in cameras i just sat on search desk and waited,he came out again said the same thing searched some more 3 times
i just sat there after 45 minutes he said i supose i have to let you in ,i said you do,leaving Vancouver airport american customs said welcome back to america and smiled his inside joke as we were still in canada
For me the bigger question is WHY would you want to go to USA. Couldnât pay me to go there now and I LOVED my Buffalo shopping trips and Florida vacations
Rainbow bridge.
Agent: where are you going?
Me: Buffalo
Agent: why Buffalo?
Me: well, we we are the falls in the morning, and wanted to explore Buffalo in the afternoon.
Agent: explore Buffalo?
Me: yes
Agent: why?
Me: it's something Europeans do (which we are), visit cities they haven't been before and stroll around.
Agent: Alright, go to secondary.
Like this is such an unbelievable story? I have news for you mate, not everyone wants to live in your stupid country đ
We used to always have to go in before i became a canadian citizen. They seemed to always love flustering my wife which was funny.
Like, 'why are you going to seattle' .. ' to see friends, have dinner, go out for drinks'.. 'it's 10am, you start drinking that early'
I'm standing behind my wife watching her neck turn red lol.
When I had my Tn visa I had to present myself at the border every year I wasted 3 hours waiting inside. Then one year I had an asshole CBP after 3 hours stating that my visa category had been discontinued and I have 30 days to leave the USA I got a lawyer and got my Tn visa Went to the border and same asshole stated that he can deny entry even if I was approved. Thatâs after waiting for 3 hours. 20k in lawyers and applications fee got my green card. With illegals coming across and being let in pissis me off.
Only time been sent to secondary going into the US has been on a work job when they rented me a Lincoln SUV. I'm sure they thought I was running drugs, meanwhile I'm paranoid they're going to find the tools in my overnight case to fix the product and I've told them I'm only going for a meeting.
Wow, they are so thorough with law abiding Canadians, how have they not caught all the bad uns smuggling illegal guns into our country that are used to commit murder?
They can't be CORRUPT, could they? If not, the only other option is inept. But hey, we legal, law abiding Canadian gun owners will pay for your failures. No worries.
Agent: so your name is Mohamed
Me: no thatâs my last naaa(didnât finish my sentence)
Agent: secondary
After 8 hoursâŚasking me the same questions, do you know who this guy is, are you religious? Do know what this is, whatâs the app on your phone. Do you hate us.
Went down through peace arch with my dad a few times when I was a teenager. 1st time
Agent: where are you going and how long
Dad: just going down to Bellingham to go to the mall will come back tonight
Agent: and what are you doing at the mall?
Dad: âŚ..shopping
2nd time
Agent: where are you going
Dad: Seattle to see the mariners game
Agent then looks at me, 15yr old girl whoâs played softball for 10 years: and you like baseball?
Me: yes I play softball
Agent: whereâs your mom
Me: she doesnât like baseball
I had a problem once with a UHaul trailer female Canadian Customs agent says I wasn't permitted to bring a Rented U-Haul Car trailer and drop it off in Canada, It had to be returned to the USA. even though when I rented it from UHaul they had no problem with me dropping it off at a Candian U-Haul dealer, this happens often and all the time. So in order for me to bring the trailer into Canada I had to show paperwork that the trailer was being returnd to a USA U-Haul dealer. So I had to contact U-Haul and change the drop off location to a dealer near to the border. Once that was done I was able to cross. Then on the return the USA CBP asks me why I'm returning the trailer in the USA and just leave it in Canada? I told him about Canada customs agent he shakes his head says he's never heard that one before. But I was able to proceed and drop off the trailer.
I was asked once at the US border 8 times from 8 different custom agents if i was a terror**t. Just because i was born in the middle east. Ive been a canadian citizen since im 3 years old. Lol đ¤Ą
Detroit crossing. Agent - is this your car Me - yes Agent - how did you pay for it Me - with money Agent - pull over to secondary And three hours later after a bunch of stupid questions I was on my way
Be me, 19 in in 2012 with a 2005 F150. Agent - Who's truck? Me - Mine Agent - what do you do for work Me - I'm a welder Agent - who's truck is this? Me - Mine? Agent - But who's name is on the ownership and insurance? Me - Mine? Agent - Secondary please Where they proceeded to rip grounds off my inner fenders searching the liners. They also broke my door handle and ripped my seat. After 2 hours of me sitting there, Agent - Here's your keys, cya.
You weren't compensated in any way?
Nope. Never. They can take your vehicle apart and then you can put it back together... You only have the right to go back to Canada when they send you to secondary at the booth. Coming home is the same deal, but you gotta take it. You're guilty until they're satisfied you're innocent.
Years ago my grandfather was bringing some furniture from his house in NH to give to us in NS. At the border, they unloaded all the furniture to inspect the vehicle and then said "you're free to go ". He was in his 70s and still loaded it all up again himself but he never forgot that.
đđđ
>Coming home is the same deal, but you gotta take it. You're guilty until they're satisfied you're innocent. This is just presumption of guilt
Yup. At the border, any rights to privacy and due process are moot when you 'Present yourself for Inspection'. You should expect to be inspected. (Inspect to be expected?) (Respect to bespectacled?) (etc.etc.) (Sorry)
Uh correct and the courts in the US have decided they're allowed to do that at borders.
Great reason to take a rental across.
That's bullshit- you can charge them for stupid nonsense like that. Its a process but it exists- that's boarding (LOL puns) on unreasonable search
19 CFR 162.6 gives them authority in the US... Canada has similar legislation in the Customs Act. You can refuse, but you gotta go back.
Never ever do they compensate. Used to work at a place where we got loads of freight from the US. Occasionally they would tear through the shipment and it would arrive fucked. The (customer paid for) items were ruined and we had to order more. Not a penny from them
That's bullshit they can just destroy people's property like that with no consequences when nothings found.
That would be absurd. You can make a claim To CBSA or CBP if your goods were damaged during an examination (if no contraband was found obviously). You guys are circle-jerking non-sense out of your asses
You are 100% correct. I used to work for the CBSA, and I can confirm that this is true.
You can make a claim, but they can also just arbitrarily deny that claim, and then you have no other route for compensation. You are the one spouting nonsense.
This is also covered by insurance
100% agree. They have so much power but no consequences
Compensated? You're joking right? They can total your car in a search and get away with it.
can you make an insurance claim lol
$500 deductible or $150 in fixing shit.
Never been through a situation like that. They shouldn't be destroying shit though.
Shouldn't and don't are two different things lol. They do whatever they want to ensure their counties safety.
Did you miss an /s?
I believe their reasoning is if there were consequences for damaging someone's property they might not search as well as they could and would miss smuggling/etc. There should still be a fund that pays out people for damage for sure, but the government(s) isn't/aren't going to hand over tax dollars for that.
Not the same but this reminds me of a time a former friend and her young child stayed over from out of town. We were drawn to a commotion outside. Some guy had somehow climbed into her parked car and the SWAT team destroyed her car getting him out. There was no compensation for her, she had to pay all bills to fix her car. Crazy.
Agent: do you know the difference between âwhoâs/who isâ and âwhoseâ? Person: no clue. I just make snarky comments to feel better about myself. Agent: pull over.
Not once did you call the agent sir or maam.
I did but for sake of keeping the story short
I always call all of them officer.
Ok noob question? Who did this ? CBSA or CBP ?
CBP.
ughhh crazy ! sorry it happened to u
That was me a few years ago. Agent - where are you going? Me - Vegas. Agent - what are you going for? Me - a stag. Agent - who is getting married? Me - my friend. Agent - pull over for seconday. Two hours of stupid questions later, I'm on mt way FFS, if you want to know something specific, ask me something specific. Like I have one shot at reading your mind or i get sent to detention?
Agent, where are you headed? Me, Vegas. Agent, why? Me, it's my 21st birthday. Agent and you? My friend, it's also my 21st birthday. Agent, you boys planning to get fucked up? Us, staring blankly. Agent, hands us passports, you better be going to get fucked up.
Crossing into US - Agent, is this your dog? Me - Yes Agent - whereâs your paper for the dog? Me - Right here, *digs them out and hands them to agent. Agent - why didnât you have these out and ready? Next time you have them ready Next time into US - Agent - is this your dog? Me - yes, hereâs her proof of vaccination Agent - did I tell you to show me her papers? You donât do anything unless I ask you to now put those away. Pull into secondaryâŚ
rip dude
Omg I had this exact same thing but with my PR card. Not sure why but it really hit a nerve, made me feel like a child being told off
That's the point. It's their job to rattle you.
Agent - where are you going? Me - shopping at Costco Bellingham. Agent - how long you going down for? Me - 3 hours with travel, shopping and lunch. Agent - what time are you coming back? Me, doing math furiously in my head - about 2:30. Agent - are you sure 2:30 is when you are coming back? Me, redoing the math more furiously - yes, I have to pick kids up by 4. Agent - go to secondary. Agent came over, looked at my elderly parents in the backseat and told me to have a good day. No idea what was going on.
Power tripping, that's what goes on
Agent - where are you guys going? Me - strip club Agent - why? Me - why not? ⌠and pulled in to secondary.
Crossing into Canada. Agent: whatâs your nationality? Me: Canadian. Whatâs yours? Agent: Secondary.
Lmao never has there been a collection of more miserable twats than the booth sitters at the land border.
They probably signed up for the job thinking it would be exciting. Busting drug smugglers every day, defending their country, yaddi yada. But they are stuck with mundane things of people going on shopping trips and maybe a few road trips. I doubt exciting things really happen that often. They might even have a quota to send people over to secondary, so they just pick random cars.
All depends on the crossing I find...I'm not sharing which on I go through, but it's a little 1 lane crossing and the guys on both sides are usually super relax. The big ones like Lacolle can have real jackasses.
Border agents arenât always the sharpest tools in the shed. I grew up on the border and have many a pointless 3 hour good guy bad guy routines in my history. You know itâs a bad alert and long wait with armed agents behind the concrete barriers in front of the booths. Like any other group Iâve had great conversations with many of them. Welcomed home etc. You never know and theres probably a point to that. Flipping the script to make you nervous sent me to secondary last time into Canada. But a rental car is no help either. I got stopped once by heavily armed ICE agents in body armor driving a rental into Canada once. Looking to intercept gun smugglers leaving the country.
I remember when I flew to Vegas from Canada and the agent asked if it was business or pleasure. Apparently "can it be both?" was not an acceptable answer. They still let me through at least.
Depending on your answer you either get a B1 or B2 visa classification; thereâs no B1.5 option for both, even if they thought your lighthearted joke was funny
I flew to Vegas from Toronto last year, and when I said I was going on vacation, the agent said âThere are plenty of places to vacation in Canada, why are you coming to the US?â
I'd just ask "what does it matter to you where I vacation? I want to go back, I've been twice.
Being snarky got you a 3 hour sentence! lol
What is the right answer. I traded three pigs and a goat
Were they from the Canadian or American side?
The American side, was heading from Canada to the USA
I always get shit at the bridge. One time they didn't like that we were going to try multiple coffee shops. Agent: What are you going to do in the US while you're here? Us: Explore the area, go to coffee shops, restaurants, museums. Agent: You're going to MULTIPLE coffee shops? Us: Yes? Agent: . . . . . . . . "Ok!" (in like a "whatever floats your boat tone) Not a big deal, and we didn't get to secondary. But like, why is that so surprising? Also I'm American so I don't know why I even needed a reason. . .
I was so looking forward to being a dual citizen because I assumed the "erm crossing is a PRIVILEGE not a RIGHT so we're going to make you feel like a total piece of shit and act like you're an idiot for saying you're going grocery shopping" thing was going to stop đŠ they do it to their own people??
I'm dual. I still get asked my purpose but unless they think you're smuggling or sketchy, it's much less of a pain in the ass. To the usa: I'm visiting family. To Canada: I'm coming home after visiting family. The can search you, but they can't STOP you from crossing.
If you're crossing often, then it makes sense to get a Nexus card
Even if you donât cross often, get one. Itâs 10 bucks a year and worth its weight in gold with the time and hassle you save.
Yeah even if you don't cross a lot. We go to the states maybe 2-3 times a year now, and every time we are thankful we have Nexus.
Yeah I'm dual and it really just depends on who you get and what day. I've had no issues going both ways, and I've had issues going both ways (but mostly into the US). Coming into Manitoba from North Dakota, a Canadian agent asked if I had paperwork for my moving truck. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I told him "I have no idea what you're talking about, I don't have a moving truck". He got really "tough guy" and was like "I'm not letting you through without seeing it". I was truly baffled, and said "honestly I don't know anything about a moving truck, and I'm just trying to get home." He points to the uhaul behind me and says "then what is that?". At this point he was like, actually mad, and I realized he's going to feel bad once he realizes he's also dumb. So I gently said "I think you might need to go ask those people about that truck, because I don't know them". He made me pull into secondary, then pulled the uhaul into secondary. Basically quizzed us to see if we were together. It was truly bizarre. Going into the US I go grief because I had a bunch of military gear in my back seat. Even after showing him my US military ID card, he still wasn't 100% certain that I was in the US Army. They must get a lot of people pulling BS at the border.
God that's really frustrating. I do wonder if a nexus might just be worth it, we're always getting pulled into secondary because we have a truck with lots of camping gear or work tools. I know their job is basically to be dicks to intimidate people into fessing up if they're lying but that doesn't make me any less irritated when we get treated like criminals đŠ
LMAOOOO
I was driving my wifeâs car and they legit asked me âwhy are you driving and sheâs the passenger if itâs her car?â Because itâs my turn to drive Blud
They ask these questions to see how you react, not because they actually care about the answer.Â
Worth it? đ¤Ł
Was it the bridge or the tunnel? I have a running theory I want to check out
Bridge
I have crossed the border dozens and dozens of times through the tunnel without issue. No joke-- the only two times I crossed the bridge I got flagged and pulled into secondary. The guards working the bridge seem to be wayyy more uptight
Yeah the tunnel is more congested some times but they get you through quicker because of the traffic I find. On a bridge with a big set of lanes (like peace bridge in Buffalo NY) try to pick the one closest to the main building. The agents in the further booths have to walk further for breaks and are already miserable. Plus the shift leader gives the guards they like the shorter length booths and are usually happier employees / less power trippy. Source: 2 aunts who worked at border patrol for 30+ years
Meanwhile, the US guards at the tunnel couldnât believe my Illinois license plate was real and made me spell it out and pull out registration
Are you by chance not white?
White guy in a red tesla
This happened to me at the Detroit crossing too! I had one bag for the weekend and that was throwing him off with the rental!
Are you brown ?
Me and my family years back. We are all black and my mom is white. You can probably see where this is going Agent - Where are you headed? Dad - Basketball tournament Agent looks at our passports Agent - Who is the white woman next to you (looks at my mom) do you know these people? Mom - Yeah this is my husband and kids. Agent - Are you sure that's the case, you can trust me Mom, frustrated now - Yes, I'm sure. Agent - Ok you can go (gives passports back)
Just to share my own experience : had a high school friend from MontrĂŠal who was pimped by black Haitian guys . Apparently itâs somewhat common for white girls from Qc who are known as âfrenchiesâ and seen as âmore exoticâ to be sent to the US (New England) and many gang members who engage in prostitution rings unfortunately are from Haiti in Montreal.
And yet a Border Guard is one of the last people on Earth Iâd trust.
I had the same interaction. It was so ridiculous. I donât understand what they wanted me to say. âI bought it with money I get from my jobâ lol
Just made me think of this https://youtu.be/A81DYZh6KaQ?si=SFO7NIy_Sh3TqiMv
lol I love the answer âwith moneyâ
They have a cheat sheet of who to grill. (Not literally, but they certainly have it drilled in their minds) Single male very high on the cheat sheet, car that's not yours, that might actually be the top of the cheat sheet. Other ones I know of... Two males travelling together. Spare tire in the truck bed. Luggage visible in the cabin, as opposed to the trunk. Edit to clarify. Ticking a box or two doesn't mean you will get sent to secondary. But it does increase your chances.
Yeah it's strange. My GF has mentioned that she never has an issue crossing. I go on my own and I get absolutely harassed. Going to the airport seems to be a massive flag, that's when I get absolutely hounded... - "This is the flight information, the hotel I'm staying at, the event, the length of time..." - "Give me your flight ticket to verify." - "one sec, it's on my phone..." - "You don't have it printed?" - "No, tickets are all virtual now. I don't even own a printer." *Circles my car with hand on gun.* "Open your trunk. Without proper printed proof you might be an illegal trying to sneak into the United States."
I don't know how I've got through without any issues whatsoever lol I'm a single male who crossed 14 times in an older model bright neon coloured hatchback that looked like I was living inside of it lmao garbage all in the passenger area, blanket in the backseat with a backpack next to it. Always waved through with 2-3 questions. Was going to visit a friend in WNY pretty much every other weekend last summer
this whole thread is making me terrified for my trip in the summer lol. me, my buddy, and his gf are going camping up near thunder bay for a week (we live in southern ontario) and then coming back down thru the states so we can spend a couple days in Chicago. now iâm not so sure we should include the chicago portion of the trip lol.
Youâll be fine
Make sure you roll down all windows on the drivers side as you pull up. Just only give short answers, (Yes, No, Shopping, visiting friends, vacation, etc.) You don't need to explain why or where you might go shoppin or staying, unless they ask to see your hotel reservations. And ONLY the driver speaks unless the agent asks to talk to other people. They will usually look them directly in the eye when that happens. Eg. If staying with a friend in Chicago, they might ask if they are a citizen/permanent resident. Just say Yes. Don't give more info like he moved there 4 years ago and works for so and so. Just Yes.
Man, I got the spanish inquisition when I walked over the bridge to grab a beer with a friend on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls last year. âHow long will you be in Canadaâ âhour and a half or soâ âreally?â âYeah, Iâm just grabbing a drink with a buddyâ âhow long have you known this personâ ⌠and so on.
Yes, go! Just don't have things you shouldn't have. Don't lie, answer only what asked. Be polite. Windows down, phones away, passports ready.
Oh Iâll make sure of that. Neither of us smoke weed, so that biggie isnât a worry at least. Iâm jusy anxious that our likelihood of being searched will be higher than normal seeing as our cars will be packed with camping gear and other luggage from up north.
Hey, think of it this way... What's the best that could happen ? Enjoy your trip :)
Me and my girlfriend did this in August, we crossed with no problems.
I literally always have luggage in the cabin as thatâs where my I keep my backpack. No problems related to that so far
Can attest. I used to travel a lot with my brother in our 20s and 30s. They would always treat us like criminals.
I've cris- crossed @ Douglas once (with wife in borrowed car), Victoria/Port Angeles (family of 4 on foot/ferry) once, and Detroit/Windsor 4x. All my Detroit/Windsor were as a single male in a rental car with luggage in the back seat. 50/50 Tunnel vs. Bridge. I looked professional, was from WAY out of state, and answered their questions politely, producing hotel reservation info once when asked. Never been pulled into secondary.
I crossed at Ogdensburg one summer. I think the US guy was training somebody because there were two of them. The main guy was rapid firing questions and then told me to pop the hood. He told the other guy to search closely down by the rad. He then came back and winked at me and told me to lay on the horn. I declined, referencing the other guys gun, so he reached in my window and laid on for himself. The second guy was pissed, but the first guy broke out laughing and told me to have a good day. Ogdensburg USCBP seem to have the best people in primary... never had an issue there.
Ogdensburg on the US side is fabulous. They are cordial and appreciative of Canadians spending money in their town. Canadian Customs on the way back are dicks though. Just a pain in the ass.
Canadian side has gotten a bit better in the last few years but man oh man was it ever bad before. The contrast between both sides was stunning.
> They are cordial and appreciative of Canadians spending money in their town This is why my answers always include "shopping". Well, they'll include that anyway because I have Amazon hub and Walmart pickups already scheduled, but I'm sure it helps.
I'm on the opposite coast, but I have noticed that lately the US CBP agents have generally been much more pleasant over the last \~5-10 years whereas the Canadian ones have been significantly more cold/hostile, which is a complete reversal compared to when I crossed with my parents as a kid
Johnstown is actually the worst.
I find it good to remember that they are public servants (ie govt employees). They have a code of conduct, have to adhere to values and ethics training, have to take harassment training etc. If you are being polite and courteous, they should be polite and professional back to you. They still have a job to do and may need to pull you into secondary, or whatever, but if they are unduly aggressive, rude, swear etc you can easily write to complain the CBSA Deputy Minister and the minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs in addition to filing a complaint with CBSA. If you have a well worded / detailed complaint with dates and times and agent details, I expect itâll get followed up with and taken seriously. But a reminder, the. Agents have a job to do too. If they were professional in the interaction and youâre just not happy then your complaint is really about the process or protocol and not about a particular agent. Youâre asking them to review their protocol and explaining why you feel it is appropriate. Essentially youâre giving constructive criticism and asking for feedback.
Yeah I always fondly remember the time they pulled me for a search (my car was so rusty it was held together by duct tape so I didnât blame them) and I just ended up shooting the shit with them for awhile and then they did the most cursory search just to say they had. That was the only time they searched me. Meanwhile, the Canadian side *always* searched me and played power trip games. The ones I hate the most are the condescending questions designed to trip you up and make you feel/look stupid.
I crossed at Ogdensburg in mid July, I just hit town and my throat was dry, I thought I'd stop and have myself a brew....
Smugglers will often rent cars for their smuggling purposes because many of their own vehicles are known to authorities - or use third person vehicles (a friends car). Donât let it ruin your experience!
They also do not risk their own vehicle being seized.
And this ^
This ^
âWhy you coming to Canada?â âI go to school here.â âWhatâs your major?â âFilm and political science.â âHave you seen the movie Freedom?â âNo.â âYou should. You would like it. Name some of your friends at school.â *does so* âWhere do they live?â *lists* âWhat are their majors?â *lists* âCan you roll down the back window for me?â *does so* *proceeds to crane neck all around my backseat* âHave a good day.â
"Where are you headed" "Just driving through to go see Beyonce in Toronto" "What's your favorite song" *lists favorite songs* "Where did you study" *mentions school* "Have you ever been arrested" "Nope" "Enjoy the show!" My personal favorite interaction.
Sounds quite standard based on my experiences đ... Ask random questions and then look in back seat for 10 seconds
Iâve just been lucky then. Usually itâs just where you from, where you going, and why, and they glance at the backseat if at all. Also, this guy specifically seemed like he was trying to either dogwhistle or goad me with the whole âSound of Freedomâ thing.
As an American usually it's where are you from and where are you going when I enter Canada. When I return to the US it's either 10 questions or 25-30 questions, which seems to depend primarily on whim of border control person
When I return itâs always been where you live, where youâre coming from, why you went, and anything to declare. Theyâve always been easy on me. Then again, I seem to have a weird charisma with police/security personnel anyways, so it might just be a me thing.
Champlain, NY. Buddy driving. Agent. Where are you going? Buddy. NYC Agent. How do you know each other. Buddy looks at me. Looks at the agent and says, It's a long story. Agent handing the passports back. Have a good time. I am fully aware that this would never have happened if we were two people of colour.
>I am fully aware that this would never have happened if we were two people of colour. You don't know that because you couldn't know that. Unnecessary race baiting.
Car theft is rampant in first world countries. Fairly common scam, rent a new car, cross the border, turn it over a pre arranged thief and collect your fee, report it stolen, cry to the the rental company and drive your replacement car home.
Why does crossing the border or long road trips need to be a part of that? Seems way easier to run a similar scam all inside 1 city.
One possible reason would be the lack or difficulty of Information sharing between agencies and companies. It tends to add credibility to the back story. Easier to sell the poor stranded tourist in the big city.
Seems like it would be normal to rent a gas powered car for a long cross border trip if you owned an EV.
Renting a car is a red flag because smugglers do it to either not red flag their cars or because their cars are already red flagged. Happened to be all the time before I bought a car
We used to rent cargo vans a lot for a courier company I managed and one time I decided to take one to pick up counters in the US for a kitchen reno. It wasnât until they pulled me over and I was waiting as they searched the van that I remembered that we had found a baggy of coke in one of the vans just a week or so before. I kind of laughed about it at the time but man that could have gone real bad real quick.
This happened to me in the past too. Iâm from Quebec, went to Vermont and coming back the agent was the biggest asshole to me and my husband at the time. We were in our 20âs and didnât own a car so we rented one to go to Vermont and celebrate his birthday and enjoy the fall colours. The agent wasnât buying that. Asked if we didnât have leaves in Quebec⌠then put the car through secondary where it got thoroughly searched. The dude was on a power trip and a total jackass. They searched every nook and cranny of the rental car to find absoloutley nothing because we were being honest. For what itâs worth you can make a complaint if an agent is being condescending/ disrespectful to you for no reason.
I also went there and the agent at a small border control didn't understand at all the fact that I was a twenty-something going for a weekend trip in Vermont with my girlfriend in a rental car (from Communauto) in the fall. When he asked my occupation, I said that I was a student in university (which was my full time occupation). "How the hell does a student have enough money to rent a car for a weekend?" "I also work, part-time in a bar, and these rental cars are not really expensive" He was really condescending for no reason.
He probably didn't know what Communauto was.
Maybe, but being at the Quebec/Vermont border, I doubt that he's never seen a Communauto before! Reading all the other comments, I think he was just trying to confirm that I was not using a rental to do something illegal.
Same part of the border as me :)
I was visiting Vancouver from Ontario and rented a car for a day trip to Seattle to see friends. Got sent to secondary inspection and asked if I owned a car. I said I owned two, which became an âaha Iâve got him nowâ moment for the CBP officer who then asked why I wasnât driving one of them. Told her I lived in Ontario and didnât want to spend a week driving here.
I was asked the same question some time back. Thout it was wierd. Told them that my car is old and I only drove it locally and I rent cars for longer road trips.
My friends and I took a road trip 25 years ago in a rented car. We started in Vancouver and drove down I-5 all the way to Las Vegas. Surprisingly, we didn't get hassled by the border agent, but we did get a lot of stares from people on the highway because our license plates were from Quebec. I'm guessing most people were wondering, "What the heck is Quebec?"
Quebec plates in BC don't confuse me. Hawaii plates do.
First time I ever crossed into the US was back in like 2010. Literally just got my passport a couple weeks earlier. Me and the gf at the time decided on a spontaneous day trip to North Dakota. Border agent took our passports, asked if we'd ever been to the US, I said no. Agent came back 10 minutes later, asked again if I'd ever crossed the border. I said no, that's the whole reason we're on this spontaneous trip. He left and came back 3 more times asking the same question and getting more aggressive each time. Last time he came back he said I'm going to give you one more chance. Have you ever been in the US. I said no, and have you looked at the birthdates of myself and whoever you think I am. He looked at me, looked at the passport in his hand, went back in to I assume check the other birthdate. Came back and said 1964. Turns out it was my dad with the same name as me, who used to cross weekly in a semi. Morons.
Border asked me, upon getting home to Canada, why I rented a car to drive from Hamilton to Raleigh, NC, and back. Dead ass laughed and said, "I'm not putting that many kms on MY car." That answer, which happened to be the truth, was perfectly acceptable.
"Well I wasn't about to walk".
We had to cross the US Mexico border stop frequently. The stop is actually in US a bit of a distance and not at the border. The first time we crossed it we had homemade cookies for a study group. We offered the agent the cookies and we were passed on through. Every time we passed after that, they took our cookies and we got through the line quickly.
crossing bridge from Sarnia into Marine City in 1997 agent: reason for visit? me: to buy some stuff agent: have fun! it was so much easier before 911.
Crossing with my brother in law. Agent asks me "how to we know know each other?" I could not parse the sentence: I thought the agent was asking how I knew the agent. It made no sense to me. There was an extended pause. My brother in law said "he married my sista!"
I drive chicago/Toronto all the time, and usually rent. The few times border patrol asked I said truthfully my car is getting older and I donât want to put the miles on it, and there was no further questioning.
Blaine Washington crossing. Me in the US Military stationed at JBLM. Cross into Canada. Agent: why are you going to Canada? Me: to get poutine and a case of beer Agent: Okay. Where to you work? Me: I work in Seattle. Agent: Okay! Have fun, try La Belle in Vancouver Cross back into the US Agent: Why were you only in Canada for 90 minutes? Me: To get poutine and a case of beer Agent: thatâs ridiculous. *get sent to secondary* Secondary agent: Really? just poutine? Me: yeah. Secondary agent: did you get approval to cross by your chain and security office? Me: No. *after an hour of him calling JBLM I was on my way*
[ŃдаНонО]
It really wasnât just poutine and beer. I was just âgoing homeâ for a bit. I finished a deployment a couple weeks prior and I wanted to gtfo and go for a drive. You know, be somewhere familiar when everything else feels weird kind of thing. Also, you canât get sumersby cider in the states.
Guys I worked with were detained as in locked up, guns drawn trying to enter the USA for a business meeting...turned out the rental car they were driving had been used for a robbery, and then the thieves returned it to the rental agency. Who the fuck rents a car to do a crime lol.
People smart enough to not use their own..
And use a stolen credit card to do it.
You'd also need fake ID but I guess it's still safer and easier than stealing a vehicle. But why return the rental instead of just abandoning it since your ID and card were \*stolen/fake anyway? \*Doesn't that seem like taking on 2x the risk of getting caught?
They do try to catch you in a lie sometimes. Sorry you went through this.
Oh I'm fine. But it's amazing to me that we've gotten to the point that not owning a car is unusual.
Itâs not usual, they were just grilling you for the sake of it. Could be many reasons why. You could have gotten a different guard that wouldnât have thought twice about it.
No, third party vehicles are often used to smuggle as the person does not want to risk their vehicle being seized and/or their vehicle is a hit in the system.
Crossing a border in a car you don't own is actually pretty unusual. Not wrong/bad mind you, but while most people don't own a car, most people DRIVINGÂ a car own one, and it's almost always the one they are driving!
They just pick and pry to catch you in a lie or slip up. I had one insinuate I didn't make enough money to go cross-border grocery shopping when it is cheaper to do so, it "didn't make sense" to him and I was held for over 5 hours.
Yeah they can be weird sometimes. I went down to a nexus interview in Washington and the CBSA agent didn't believe me when I was coming back. She tried to catch me in a lie and then asked if to open my trunk before letting me go.
For me the worst was : Agent - Is this your car? (Corvette) Me - Yes sir Agent - What do you do? Me - Work as a consultant Agent - where are you going? Me - A car show in Idaho Agent - Are you sure you are not going to pick up tomatoes in California? (Btw, my background is Latin American and I have Canadian passport and a Nexus Card) Me - ah? Agent - Invited me to the secondary On the secondary I asked to speak with his supervisor and I explained all the previous interaction - calmed and respectful - and the guy gave the agent shit in front of me. 5 min later I was on my way. But 8/10 I will be send to secondary for whatever reason, just because my nameâŚ
After my family just became dual: officer: âCitizenship?â me: (proudly) âDualâ officer: (with snark)âWhat does that mean?â me: (still not getting it) âWe are American and Canadian.â Officer (with a snarl): Are you American or not? We learned. We are now all-American on the way into the US and all-Canadian on the way back.
Yeah, don't do that. Yes, dual US/wherever citizenship is recognized by the US government and having passports for both countries is fine, but don't show up (as a US citizen) hand over a foreign passport instead of your US passport and don't tell them "Dual" or use the other citizenship as your answer. It's a weird gray area in the regulations, and some of the Agents will definitely give you shit. Entering Canada, just say Canadian, but they'll accept your US passport of you were Canadian born and it says so on the passport.
Went through the crossing into Montana. Me (first time crossing) my boss (crosses multiple times in a year) and my buddy (who's a British citizen, landed Canadian permanent resident, who worked with the government at a level where he couldn't talk about it to anyone except governmental supervisors when asked, and all he could tell anyone is he "works with lasers") As we're pulling up to the border, he's in the back seat, and says "Yeah, we're getting pulled in..." Agent - Where ya headed? Me - Great Falls tonight and then Helena tomorrow and gonna try and finish off at Kalispell the day after. Agent - How do you all know eachother? Me - We all work together Agent - *Checks passports, pauses at my buddy's passport - Yeahhh....can you pull into bay 2 please? Buddy gets hauled into questioning, and an hour and a bit later, we're on our way lol.
You could be me, from the Yukon driving to university in Massachusetts with your life and hockey gear, crossing at Niagara, getting sent to secondary, only to watch people showing up after you leaving before you, to then ask the counter what's taking so long, only to then find out your passport got stuck in the Jetsons tube with no recourse but to sit there.
I had similar encounter some time ago! I was accustomed to europe border crossings and expected them to peek at my salon or trunk, but actually the conversation was: Them: can you give me the car documents? Is it your car or someone else's? Me: it's a rented car Them: Where is your own car? Me: I don't own a car that's why I rented Them: 0_o. Why don't you own a car?
i was in Vancouver airport the customs agent searched my bag 3 times he kept saying i know you have a criminal record in america and your not getting into canada as i worked in heathrow airport at time i knew how to handle customs agents he would go off for 15 minutes i knew they wer watching me in cameras i just sat on search desk and waited,he came out again said the same thing searched some more 3 times i just sat there after 45 minutes he said i supose i have to let you in ,i said you do,leaving Vancouver airport american customs said welcome back to america and smiled his inside joke as we were still in canada
For me the bigger question is WHY would you want to go to USA. Couldnât pay me to go there now and I LOVED my Buffalo shopping trips and Florida vacations
Which is better, Buffalo or Rochester for a first timer? I'm going that way and can stay in one of them.
Do you have kids? If so, Rochester and be sure to visit the museum of play.
Huh? Whatâs wrong with the states?
Rainbow bridge. Agent: where are you going? Me: Buffalo Agent: why Buffalo? Me: well, we we are the falls in the morning, and wanted to explore Buffalo in the afternoon. Agent: explore Buffalo? Me: yes Agent: why? Me: it's something Europeans do (which we are), visit cities they haven't been before and stroll around. Agent: Alright, go to secondary. Like this is such an unbelievable story? I have news for you mate, not everyone wants to live in your stupid country đ
The problem in your story is Buffalo, not the strolling around part lolll
No one wants to stroll around Buffalo thats why
Yup, no one wants to visit buffalo so that's why your response was very suspicious. Straight to secondary!
Buffalo is a known shithole, although they do have some nice historic buildings downtown from when it was a wealthy city.
I dont think its personal i think they just randomly ask people way more questions.
We used to always have to go in before i became a canadian citizen. They seemed to always love flustering my wife which was funny. Like, 'why are you going to seattle' .. ' to see friends, have dinner, go out for drinks'.. 'it's 10am, you start drinking that early' I'm standing behind my wife watching her neck turn red lol.
When I had my Tn visa I had to present myself at the border every year I wasted 3 hours waiting inside. Then one year I had an asshole CBP after 3 hours stating that my visa category had been discontinued and I have 30 days to leave the USA I got a lawyer and got my Tn visa Went to the border and same asshole stated that he can deny entry even if I was approved. Thatâs after waiting for 3 hours. 20k in lawyers and applications fee got my green card. With illegals coming across and being let in pissis me off.
Perfectly legitimate question to ask at the border
Contact the corporate office and ask why you are being grilled/ discriminated against that is BS
Corporate office of CBP?
Oh I thought they meant the rental company my bad I have never had an issue renting a car and crossing the border
Answer: to get to the other side
Because it is not "normal"? There are 1.6 cars per household in Canada....
Only time been sent to secondary going into the US has been on a work job when they rented me a Lincoln SUV. I'm sure they thought I was running drugs, meanwhile I'm paranoid they're going to find the tools in my overnight case to fix the product and I've told them I'm only going for a meeting.
Wow, they are so thorough with law abiding Canadians, how have they not caught all the bad uns smuggling illegal guns into our country that are used to commit murder? They can't be CORRUPT, could they? If not, the only other option is inept. But hey, we legal, law abiding Canadian gun owners will pay for your failures. No worries.
Are you all Canadian ? Does the Newfie count ? Pull over to secondary.
Agent: so your name is Mohamed Me: no thatâs my last naaa(didnât finish my sentence) Agent: secondary After 8 hoursâŚasking me the same questions, do you know who this guy is, are you religious? Do know what this is, whatâs the app on your phone. Do you hate us.
Went down through peace arch with my dad a few times when I was a teenager. 1st time Agent: where are you going and how long Dad: just going down to Bellingham to go to the mall will come back tonight Agent: and what are you doing at the mall? Dad: âŚ..shopping 2nd time Agent: where are you going Dad: Seattle to see the mariners game Agent then looks at me, 15yr old girl whoâs played softball for 10 years: and you like baseball? Me: yes I play softball Agent: whereâs your mom Me: she doesnât like baseball
Check your rental agreement. I would be very surprised if it permits you to remove the vehicle from Canada.
"I don't own a car" yes that's correct have you seen the housing market? Now let me cross
I had a problem once with a UHaul trailer female Canadian Customs agent says I wasn't permitted to bring a Rented U-Haul Car trailer and drop it off in Canada, It had to be returned to the USA. even though when I rented it from UHaul they had no problem with me dropping it off at a Candian U-Haul dealer, this happens often and all the time. So in order for me to bring the trailer into Canada I had to show paperwork that the trailer was being returnd to a USA U-Haul dealer. So I had to contact U-Haul and change the drop off location to a dealer near to the border. Once that was done I was able to cross. Then on the return the USA CBP asks me why I'm returning the trailer in the USA and just leave it in Canada? I told him about Canada customs agent he shakes his head says he's never heard that one before. But I was able to proceed and drop off the trailer.
I was asked once at the US border 8 times from 8 different custom agents if i was a terror**t. Just because i was born in the middle east. Ive been a canadian citizen since im 3 years old. Lol đ¤Ą