Does anyone know how to read the code custom agent put on your Canadian declaration card? i.e. R84 / K21...etc. Which ones are good and which ones are for secondary screening?
They change all the time, so don't try to figure the system out.
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Does anyone know how to read the code custom agent put on your Canadian declaration card? i.e. R84 / K21...etc. Which ones are good and which ones are for secondary screening?
I just landed late Fri. night on the IAH-YVR CO flight just after midnight and it seemed less in my case to do with the codes than the red felt pen the initial customs agent circled around my travel dates and my coming from other country direct via U.S. for the secondary agent to check out, which was done in a fairly polite manner.
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when we fly internationally I always wonder why they dont give you enough time to clear the controls that they may have. I am not wanting to wait in airports but these days, if they are going to make you, the airlines should have planned for this.
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I just landed late Fri. night on the IAH-YVR CO flight just after midnight and it seemed less in my case to do with the codes than the red felt pen the initial customs agent circled around my travel dates and my coming from other country direct via U.S. for the secondary agent to check out, which was done in a fairly polite manner.
Same thing happened to me. Don't remember codes but, do remember a big felt pen marking my customs card.
I posted something more detailed in the MR Turnaround thread a while back but, suffice to say, if you are traveling alone and look like a young backpacker type, you have been warned!
Was this a Schengen immigration, or US Immigration? I know that US pre-clears in Ireland but I didn't think DUB was one of those. I've never had to immigrate into a Schengen country if I'm just passing through.
I dont know, but our plane was from AMS-DUB, two EU countries, where we all would have had to clear things in AMS. We all funnelled in, though, to a lobby full of people from all over the place on inbound flights and connecting routes. Still dunno why we had to do this, seeing as how our tickets showed us simply using DUB as the connection and not as a destination.
I think Canada customs and immigration is farrrrr nicer and more professional than the US. I found the Irish to be rather nice too, and pretty accomodating if anything else, but they seemed a bit less up to par with putting in place the best workable system for processing people. Lots done by hand, etc.
I still think all countries should upgrade everything. I guess Canada got the squeaze put on them by some faction of the US Gov't and its current zeal over terrorism. Now we are a nation of fear, and man, you can sure feel it when you come and go! Sucks.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertS975
BTW, I always figure that it is best not to say you are there on business because that opens a whole 'nuther can of worms... are you getting paid, are there goods or samples etc etc.
I agree 100% that mentioning business is a bad idea. I still say it every time because it is the truth but it gets me into secondary questioning each time I visit.
I then usually get the whole "asking the same question 5 times to see whether I will answer it differently or too similar" treatment but fortunately I never got the 2h package.
I had EXACTLY the same unpleasant experience at YVR when coming for an overnight for a friend's big party. They didn't believe that 1) I would travel to their lovely country for a short weekend, and 2) I didn't need more than a small carry-on. They searched that little case over and over until they finally let me in.
That being said, while I have heard a lot of bad things about Canadian immigration, it was quite painless when I was in transit for the last time for 14 hours. I guess the fact that I was flying SFO-YYZ-TPA, which is somewhat logical helped. Either way, the agent was FAR from nice!
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MRs are bad for the environment
I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadians ban mileage runs because of their negative impact on the environment, considering that flying of any type is bad for global warming, and now we add to that flying for no particular purpose.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Reindeerflame
I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadians ban mileage runs because of their negative impact on the environment, considering that flying of any type is bad for global warming, and now we add to that flying for no particular purpose.
Could you back that up with peer-reviewed, scientific evidence, please?
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You cannot uphold American ideology with un-American actions. It's time for change.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Canadians ban mileage runs because of their negative impact on the environment, considering that flying of any type is bad for global warming, and now we add to that flying for no particular purpose.
..... and driving solo is better than flying with others? Not always, especially when it is also more expensive.
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I was on the cheap NW fare from Winnipeg to Bucharest last year. Drove from MN to Winnipeg and was stopped by Canadian customs for 2 hours at the border while they searched my car from front to back - every single item in my glove compartment all the way to the trunk. Opened every suitcase, looked through everything, turned on my laptop looking for stuff. Finally allowed to go 2 hours later (fortunately I left early enough to try and catch an earlier flight from YWG to MSP so I had enough time to make my originally scheduled departure).
Returned to the US a week later (didn't use the fare just for MR purposes - had things to do in Europe). Upon returning to the US in MSP I was also singled out for similar scrutiny by the US customs officials. Same drill though easier since only had my luggage and not all the junk in my car. But similar questions, similar scrutiny, similar search of laptop. After the initial questioning by the US officials, one told me they were going to search my luggage and asked if I wanted to change any of my answers. I said, "No." In retrospect I should have said, "Do you mean are you asking me to lie?" At the end I did mention that I had been scrutinized twice on this trip and asked if I was on some "list." He said no and the best way to avoid the scrutiny is to tell the truth. I said, "I did but I still was screened." He didn't answer.
Frustrating but next time I am selected I will probably say very little and just let them look through everything. They are going to look anyway whether I answer their questions or not. I know this might sound confrontational but I would just say something politely like "I prefer not to answer that." I would probably only do this upon entering the US since they could not deny me entry into my own country without reasonable cause.
FTI, I recently returned to Canada and during one of the more "pleasent" experiences with Canada Customs I was informed that I am required by law to not only answer any questions they have but I also have to answer them truthfully... the border guard even quoted the sections for me, I'll be damned if I can remember them though. But the way things are going, I wouldn't be suprised if he was telling the truth. I don't know if its the same entering the US.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiff
Could you back that up with peer-reviewed, scientific evidence, please?
No it can't be proven, probably just a gut level speculation on the part of the poster who made the original assertion, given Canada's cultural obsession with climate change. Any part of the world that will use the government power of command and control to take away the freedom to make choices (such as the eventual banning in Ontario/Toronto of incandescent light bulbs and gasoline powered lawn mowers) rather than use economic incentives to encourage making societally beneficial choices (such as taxing the aforementioned offending products or subsidizing energy saving alternatives) is obviously one part of the world where the populace has been whipped into a hysteria where rational thought and dialogue no longer rule. When the atmosphere of hysteria and panic has been set in motion, any governmental policy that reacts to this atmosphere, however illogical it may sound to a dispassionate outsider, becomes plausible.
As for the topic at hand, this clearly seems to be a YMMV situation. As an American living in Canada, I have been treated courteously and professionally by customs agents on both sides of the border without exception. However, my good fortune might be due to the fact that I am the most non-threatening looking male in the Western Hemisphere (the word nebbish may be the most appropriate adjective to describe my appearance).
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Every EU country scans your passport into the Schengen Information System upon entry. You can read about it here.
Actually, not all EU members are members of the Schengen treaty, and vice versa. Plus, I've gone in and out of Schengen several times with a cursory glance at my passport and no data entry. Just depends on the country and the officer.
