kahuna613

I have never had serious trouble in Canada apart from the normal stern questioning and the questions about why I have so many stamps in my passport. Also, it seems that pretty much any young person crossing the land border from Canada to US or vice versa is considered likely to be trafficiking marijuana. In my experience, London is by far the worst, especially if you are young and traveling alone. I make every effort to avoid passing through UK if I have to go through immigration while transiting, which you do if going from third country thru Heathrow to Ireland.

Its pretty much ridiculous all over the place now...I don't envy non-US citizens visiting the US at all. The worst is the incredulity with which immigration control people respond to one's own responses to their questions.

example: You're going to X on a skiing vacation? And just why would you want to go skiing here?
me: Um...(ponders most normal sounding answer, given that I had never considered being asked this question)... (failure to respond immediately leads to further questioning)

While studying abroad in Senegal, I had to go to the Gambian High Commission in Dakar for a visa to visit Gambia. I had to have an interview which consisted of one question "Why (with incredulous tone) do you want to come to Gambia?" That was more seriously wondering why I would want to visit Gambia, than questioning me to determine if I was up to no good or was some sort of threat.

Black Adder

Ok, usually I'm driving a tractor trailer in an out of Canada and I can state that I always prefer going into Canada than going back to the US. Canadian customs is much more professional and respectful then US customs. And the $5 I have to pay to return to my own country burns my ... every time!

airbus320

Warning: This is a blunt statement and not politically sensitive.

Now you know what we Canadians often experience when crossing the USA border. It is generally a unfriendly encounter and I now avoid it as much as possible.

A sad situation on both sides of our borders.

busygirl

Just arrived into Calgary last night. Brief conversation with the agent. No problems!

Caroline's Rub

As a dual Canadian/American:

When I am going through customs on the way into the US, I feel as though I am being scrutinized as someone who may actually be a threat...

BUT, when I am going through customs on the way into Canada, I feel as though I am being scrutinized as someone who has items they can duty and tax...

Canadian customs spends far too much time opening the gates wide open to the scary and less than desirable, while they hound and hassle those who are decent and upstanding looking for every last penny they can tax...

BingoLoco

I would never EVER subject myself to Canadian customs for a MR.

st7860

you got that right. even on the land crossings the differences are the same as you have mentioned

Explore

My wife and I recently traveled to Canada, through YYZ, for an 11-day Newfoundland vacation. The least suspicious type of trip, I guess - not a mileage run.

Canada Customs was perfunctory, as you'd expect. No issues going north.

On the return, the mechanics of the procedure were poor. Transferring at YYZ from an intra-Canadian flight to a U.S.-bound flight with the same carrier, AC, the directions on where to go were lacking. We first went to the channel for YYZ-originating passengers, then had to hunt around for the correct entrance. Where were the neatly-jacketed Pearson "ambassadors" we'd seen on our way north? So we ended up at a baggage belt, where we had to collect our cases. Fair enough - U.S. Customs is at YYZ. But the bags took a long time to arrive, and no one provided helpful info as we faced a tight connection. Bags finally in hand, there were no free carts available to schlep the bags through Customs - only paid carts. Come on. Manhandling our bags, we were accosted by a woman looking like a street thug, though wearing a Canadian government jacket. She wanted our baggage tag receipts. We and others had to throw down cases and passports on the floor as we dealt with this unprofessional request. On to U.S. customs, laden with baggage. We were greeted by a surly fat inspector with tattoos on his bare arms. No smiles from this guy. Place the passport here, not there! (And we're U.S. citizens.) Finally dropping our checked bags on the belt in front of a grunting attendant, it was on to another security check, then we had just a couple of minutes remaining to check out the MLL before our flight! No time to shop for Canadian wine and spirits at the duty-free, so YYZ lost revenue.

Can't YYZ do what it can to improve the process (free carts for international connections, as at SFO, and ambassadors where they're needed). Also, AC should not permit such tight connections with this rigamarole. And of course, the border forces need to shape up big time.

fti

I feel for you but some of the items you mentioned won't happen very fast. Not all US cities have free luggage carts for international passengers - in fact more airports make international passengers pay than offer free carts. MSP makes you pay.

Some of the problem was with US customs and had nothing to do with the Canadian side of things. Just trying to be fair to our northern neighbors .

I try to allow plenty of time when transitting through Canadian airports since I know lines can be extremely long, especially in the summer. One summer a friend of mine had a 4 hour layover in Toronto from Europe and to Atlanta and almost missed his connection to Atlanta.

tcook052

That's a good one, like UA shouldn't allow such short connections at ORD. Unfortunately while everyone wants to blame the airlines they aren't the sole arbiters of minimum connections times and at least part of the blame should be pointed at the other parties including airport authorities and federal regulators.

BTW, now you get an idea what Canadian travellers face connecting from an intra-Canada flight to a U.S.-bound one, which is why whenever humanly possible I fly direct to a U.S. hub like SEA, MSP, SLC or DEN so I can preclear U.S. Customs in YEG before ever setting foot on an aircraft.

CaseyN2

[QUOTE=Explore;8391691] On to U.S. customs, laden with baggage. We were greeted by a surly fat inspector with tattoos on his bare arms. No smiles from this guy. Place the passport here, not there! (And we're U.S. citizens.)


The surly fat customs inspector is a U.S. citizen just like you.

Marathon Man

(There are specific threads about the subject but I thought it was ok to post here about passport law changes of late.)

I heard from someone in the know in Canada that the issue with the new passport rules went something like this:

The two countries decided to share all federal information. Everything. Access to full.

So if there's ANYTHING about some sort of CRIMINAL CHARGES on one's record at any time, the way our federal records system work is that it just shows up as a PING and does NOT say anything about its result. Was the person guilty, not guilty, was it erased later or reduced or changed? Does not say. That in itself is wayyy wrong and it leaves YOU AND I to do the paper trail thing and write letters, fill out forms and send in fees and wait long periods of time to get something appended or explained or adjusted should it be a little issue or a very old and already long since taken care of one that most people would think should not even be on there in their life anymore.

And so you must pay into this newly addopted system and there will be naysayers who say really stupid things like: "Well you should not have done whatever you did way back when" Oh how brazen they are!

tcook052

Seems this guy had troubles recently at YYC Canadian Customs:

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/na...2a4cf1&k=20234

CALGARY - With thousands of dollars' worth of cocaine smuggled inside the false bottom on his suitcase, a Calgary man managed to pass through three airports and travel more than 12,000 kilometres, from Sudan, to Qatar to Frankfurt, Germany.

But under the steely gaze of a Calgary customs officer, the 25-year-old cracked under pressure, stumbling on his travel story.

HeathrowGuy

Considering the large and growing problem of international parental child abduction, and the advice given by many countries to have a child travel with a notarized letter of consent when traveling alone or with only one parent, and the fact that Canada has become a major transit country in such cases, I am not surprised that this occurred.

HeathrowGuy

"In an effort to prevent international child abduction, many governments have initiated procedures at entry/exit points. These often include requiring documentary evidence of relationship and permission for the child’s travel from the parent(s) or legal guardian if not present. Having such documentation on hand, even if not required, may facilitate entry/departure."