Rude Canadian immigration
#16
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
I have been suspecting this for about a year.
Also, of the 3 machines on the RHS, the middle machine in the Canada Customs area seems to be faster than the one on the right.
Crazy? Tired eyes in the morning? Thoughts?
#17
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 415
Just arrived in YYZ half an hour ago. I usually complain that immigration at Canadian airports is less pleasant than anywhere else; today, it was way beyond that, the official was plainly rude.
As a Canadian citizen, I find it very annoying that the border where I'm questioned the most is that of my own country. I'm not as versed a traveler as some people here, but still I have visited 40 different countries; and in none of them are immigration officials as unfriendly as in Canada.
Does anyone else have the same experience (or different, for that matter?)
As a Canadian citizen, I find it very annoying that the border where I'm questioned the most is that of my own country. I'm not as versed a traveler as some people here, but still I have visited 40 different countries; and in none of them are immigration officials as unfriendly as in Canada.
Does anyone else have the same experience (or different, for that matter?)
You're actually referring to Customs Officers from CBSA, not Immigration Officers from CIC. CBSA staff man the booths and question you. As a Canadian citizen, you'd never deal with a proper CIC Immigration Officer. Immigration staff are located in the secondary screening area.
It may seem a minor distinction, but it actually needs to be understood. It bothers me because if you're going to complain about someone, make sure you're complaining about the right person. Canadian citizens do not interact with CIC Immigration Officers at the airport. We interact entirely with CBSA staff.
Now, again, I agree with you 100% in that those CBSA officers are by far the rudest, and most unnecessarily confrontational border officials in any country I have travelled to.
#18
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,708
because you are their citizen, and they want to ensure you are not bringing illegal stuff into the country.
same goes for US, Australia and lesser extent UK.....
also the word rude is dependent on the eye of beholder.... to me grilling a few questions is not rude (sometimes intimidating but thats not rude), adding demeaning comments is rude.....
If they are confrontational then chances are they are doing their job
Remember too, in US and Canada the Customs officer does both immigration and customs work..... in other countries you deal with Immigration and Customs separately.
same goes for US, Australia and lesser extent UK.....
also the word rude is dependent on the eye of beholder.... to me grilling a few questions is not rude (sometimes intimidating but thats not rude), adding demeaning comments is rude.....
If they are confrontational then chances are they are doing their job
Remember too, in US and Canada the Customs officer does both immigration and customs work..... in other countries you deal with Immigration and Customs separately.
#19
Join Date: Jul 2005
Programs: SQ *Gold
Posts: 871
I completely agree with the OP. I am a Canadian citizen but have lived in the UK for the past 5 years and travel to the continent frequently. I have always found it bizarre that I get questioned the most when I return to my home country even though it is the one place in the world in which I have a constitutionally guaranteed right to enter. I'm always jealous of European travelers entering the UK or Schengen where the immigration officer checks the passport to make sure it's valid and it is for the person in front of them and waves them through - NO questions.
I read a great article the other week about a US citizen who refused to answer the questions posed to him by US immigration officers when he was returning home. The officers were outraged and pulled him aside and threatened him and kept him for an hour or so but eventually they had to concur with his viewpoint that he does not have to answer any of their questions.
Frankly, it is my right to enter Canada and it is of no business to the government what I've been doing in my trip abroad or why I'm returning home!
I read a great article the other week about a US citizen who refused to answer the questions posed to him by US immigration officers when he was returning home. The officers were outraged and pulled him aside and threatened him and kept him for an hour or so but eventually they had to concur with his viewpoint that he does not have to answer any of their questions.
Frankly, it is my right to enter Canada and it is of no business to the government what I've been doing in my trip abroad or why I'm returning home!
#22
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,875
#23
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: PHL, NYC, DC
Posts: 9,708
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: SFO/SJC
Programs: UA Silver, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 14,878
The only time I've had the new (dual-iris) camera refuse me was when I was wearing a new pair of glasses, which had different coatings than my old ones. I seemed to be ok wearing the old ones. When I went to the crew line, the agent asked me if I tried taking them off, as glasses can screw up the iris scan, I guess depending on the type of lens. I hadn't. Everytime since, I've made sure to take my glasses off, and works first time, every time.
#25
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Canada
Posts: 1,875
The way I understand it with global entry you go to the kiosk do your thing then you just give them the card on the way out and your done...just like Nexus in Canada. When you preclear to the US you use the nexus machine then you have to wait to talk to a guy and you still get asked all the questions then they let you go. If you have been approved for Nexus I don't see why you still have to stop and have a conversation with the customs officer unless your card says you are declaring something.
#26
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Earth
Programs: AC S100K (formerly AC*SE), AC 2MM, AMEX Plat, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 1,469
Just curious do you wear glasses, and were you wearing them when the machine couldn't read your iris?
The only time I've had the new (dual-iris) camera refuse me was when I was wearing a new pair of glasses, which had different coatings than my old ones. I seemed to be ok wearing the old ones. When I went to the crew line, the agent asked me if I tried taking them off, as glasses can screw up the iris scan, I guess depending on the type of lens. I hadn't. Everytime since, I've made sure to take my glasses off, and works first time, every time.
The only time I've had the new (dual-iris) camera refuse me was when I was wearing a new pair of glasses, which had different coatings than my old ones. I seemed to be ok wearing the old ones. When I went to the crew line, the agent asked me if I tried taking them off, as glasses can screw up the iris scan, I guess depending on the type of lens. I hadn't. Everytime since, I've made sure to take my glasses off, and works first time, every time.
#27
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: YYZ
Programs: Amex Cent. BA Gold
Posts: 165
The officers were outraged and pulled him aside and threatened him and kept him for an hour or so but eventually they had to concur with his viewpoint that he does not have to answer any of their questions.
Frankly, it is my right to enter Canada and it is of no business to the government what I've been doing in my trip abroad or why I'm returning home!
Frankly, it is my right to enter Canada and it is of no business to the government what I've been doing in my trip abroad or why I'm returning home!
#29
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: YYC
Posts: 4,035
BTW, even if you refused to talk, the officers would still have the right to detain and search you, because I know the court HAS ruled that detaining and searching incoming passengers without cause is not a violation under Section 8 or 9.
#30
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: YYZ
Programs: Amex Cent. BA Gold
Posts: 165
The question isn't whether a law says you have to answer (I'd put a chunk on the fact the the US has a similar law), but rather whether such a law is constitutional when applied on a Canadian citizen. In the US the 5th would mean you can't be forced to answer; in Canadian it would be Section 13, unless the Court ruled that the law was ok under the reasonable limit clause (Section 1).
BTW, even if you refused to talk, the officers would still have the right to detain and search you, because I know the court HAS ruled that detaining and searching incoming passengers without cause is not a violation under Section 8 or 9.
BTW, even if you refused to talk, the officers would still have the right to detain and search you, because I know the court HAS ruled that detaining and searching incoming passengers without cause is not a violation under Section 8 or 9.