Originally Posted by chronned (Post 36482451)

I did consider flying to Seattle and taking a shuttle across the border but felt that flying is somewhat less intensive than land crossings for whatever reason. If it doesn't work out, I'll eat the cost to my wallet (and ego) and just come back home to figure out what next.

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Interactive Advance Passenger Information

The Interactive Advance Passenger Information (IAPI) process allows commercial airlines to provide API data to the CBSA prior to take-off. This information helps commercial airlines determine whether or not you have the appropriate travel document to enter Canada (for example, Visa or Electronic Travel Authorization [eTA]). Once the CBSA receives the information, the CBSA electronically sends a "board" or "no-board" message to commercial airlines before the individual boards a flight to Canada. Upon arrival in Canada, all travellers must still present themselves to a Border Services Officer, and present the appropriate travel documents.

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Originally Posted by Xyzzy (Post 36482450)

If one gets caught doing this does that disqualify one from future rehabilitation? Would doing this and not getting caught disqualify :confused:ne? They will certainly have a record of these entries.

Originally Posted by chronned (Post 36481140)

Seeing as how this seems to be one of—if not the best—forums online to talk about this specific situation, I'd like to add a data point of my own for the weary, imperfect American traveler who dares to also fall in love with a Canadian abroad and find themselves hopelessly searching through endless threads of anecdotal evidence:

I had my first (and only) brush with the law with a DUI in the summer of 2018 when I was 19. Mine was a little worse, actually: I crashed my car into the tree of someone's front yard. By all the grace in heaven neither I nor anyone else was hurt at all. It was a wake up call for my life.

I was charged with DUI with property damage, underage possession of alcohol, and marijuana possession; it has irrevocably and forever changed the destiny of my life. I worked—HARD—at putting my life back on track and completing all the punishments I faced as a result of my stupid, selfish, immature crime—6mo. license suspension & ignition interlock, 100+ hours of community service, mandated therapy sessions, probation, court costs, you name it. The entire process was a reckoning of my soul and future. Eventually, I was able to secure gainful employment, got my probation ended early in early 2019 after only 8 months for exceptional behavior, and am about to complete an undergrad degree in CompSci this upcoming spring.

No brushes with the law to this day. I have learned my lesson from my past and I never looked back. I'm 26 this year and a completely different person: one who is trying, day by day, to look back at my younger self with more compassion and more understanding than outright rage and frustration. I accept my past and everything that I've done, and have always strived to become a better person for my family, my neighborhood, my country, and most importantly, myself.

By complete random circumstance I met a girl in London in 2022 while backpacking through Europe, and a few weeks later we decided to start a long distance relationship; we'll have been dating for 2 years this upcoming January.

She lives in Vancouver, and I can't be deemed rehabilitated (not been 10 years since completion of sentence), I do not have a criminal rehabilitation (not eligible until 5 years after completion of last punishment, which in my case technically was the court costs of which I finished paying in the summer of 2020, putting my application off until 2025, to say nothing of a successful visit in 2026 or later), nor a TPR.

What I did manage to do, however, was drive from Seattle to Vancouver for a single day through the land border in late 2023. I drove up to the stop and answered all of the border agent's questions completely honestly: where are you from, why are you here, how did you meet, what are you going to do, etc. And they let me through.

Today I write because I have a flight coming up soon for a stay with her for several weeks, and I have no idea what's going to happen. I'm praying to my lord that I find myself among the lucky ones here who get waved through without a second glance, and will diligently start the legal process perhaps once I'm inside. The uncertainty of this process has been eating me up for weeks and I just needed to vent somewhere; hopefully someone sees themselves in me, and I will report back with how everything went.

Originally Posted by seawolf (Post 36486251)

No it does not. CBSA makes the admissibility determination. In this case since it was a land border entry, criminal past doesn’t pop up unless OP is sent to secondary examination. If primary has no concerns, DUI would is not a problem. However it doesn’t mean OP will be allowed in next time since each entry is an separate application for entry.

Originally Posted by seawolf (Post 36486251)

No it does not. CBSA makes the admissibility determination. In this case since it was a land border entry, criminal past doesn’t pop up unless OP is sent to secondary examination. If primary has no concerns, DUI would is not a problem. However it doesn’t mean OP will be allowed in next time since each entry is an separate application for entry.


Flying has an increased chance of your DUI being identified by the time you land in Canada as airline submit passenger information when you check-in. CBSA could run a query against NCIC and identify the DUI. Essentially you could already be flagged for secondary inspection before you even get to the CBSA kiosk.