My First Trip with US passport

jimgreener

Registered Users (C)
I made a trip over the weekend to Canada...by car...
I was there for less than 24 hrs..
While coming back at the US side, the immigration guy asked a lot of questions like where did you stay and so on...He also asked me to pop up my trunk ( i did not come out of the car). He checked the trunk...It was near Montreal NY border....
I was a little pissed off that he would check my trunk and my luggage...I guess he did not like the fact that I entered Montreal at 4pm on saturday and was headed back at 10am Sunday...
Well, I guess my passport is ok...
 
I made a trip over the weekend to Canada...by car...
I was there for less than 24 hrs..
While coming back at the US side, the immigration guy asked a lot of questions like where did you stay and so on...He also asked me to pop up my trunk ( i did not come out of the car). He checked the trunk...It was near Montreal NY border....
I was a little pissed off that he would check my trunk and my luggage...I guess he did not like the fact that I entered Montreal at 4pm on saturday and was headed back at 10am Sunday...
Well, I guess my passport is ok...


You got off easy man, they brought out the dawgs last time I crossed the border thru Sumas, WA. & 2 weeks later they finger printed me.:eek:
 
Last edited by a moderator:
What???This happened when you were traveling with US passport???? How can they do that??? They can not fingerprint a US citizen unless you are a criminal? I can't believe that!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You got off easy man, they brought out the dawgs last time I crossed the border thru Sumas, WA. & 2 weeks later they finger printed me.:eek:

I really hate crossing at Sumas and Blaine, WA. The CPB seem to enjoy torchuring people. Last time I crossed, the CPB asked about some candies we had in the car and if we bought them in Canada. No, we bought them at Great Wall in Lynnwood but just get him off our backs, I was going to give him the can. Then he asked if my new SUV was mine and what I did for a living!

--Rafiq
 
What???This happened when you were traveling with US passport???? How can they do that??? They can not fingerprint a US citizen unless you are a criminal? I can't believe that!

It was before he obtained citizenship since his timeline shows he only applied for his passport 11 days ago.
 
I made a trip over the weekend to Canada...by car...
I was there for less than 24 hrs..
While coming back at the US side, the immigration guy asked a lot of questions like where did you stay and so on...He also asked me to pop up my trunk ( i did not come out of the car). He checked the trunk...It was near Montreal NY border....
I was a little pissed off that he would check my trunk and my luggage...I guess he did not like the fact that I entered Montreal at 4pm on saturday and was headed back at 10am Sunday...
Well, I guess my passport is ok...
With the recent news of the ease that US passports can be obtained with false identification, perhaps they are stepping up their random searches.
 
With the recent news of the ease that US passports can be obtained with false identification, perhaps they are stepping up their random searches.

How would checking a trunk help detecting fake cases? I don't understand what you are saying....
I am assuming since he scanned my passport he must have seen my whole information including the naturalization records....but they must have always been doing that...
 
How would checking a trunk help detecting fake cases? I don't understand what you are saying....
I am assuming since he scanned my passport he must have seen my whole information including the naturalization records....but they must have always been doing that...
The purpose of a random check is also to verify the demeanor of the person. For example, if you were traveling with a fake passport and they asked to check your trunk, it would set off an expected response , something that CBP officers have been trained for. It's all part of behavior detection techniques that you may not even be aware about. You wonder why they are checking our trunk, whereas they are searching for clues in behavior that could allude them to you hiding something -whether it be a fake passport or smuggling someone back into the US at the Lacolle border crossing.
 
Immigration is one thing, customs another.
I crossed a land border just once (on the I-87 NYS-quebec border) and the two processes were unified, but CBP agents still have the rights to inspect US citizens.
Being a US citizen doesn't allow you to smuggle illegal substances and that's what they're checking. I don't see anything wrong with that.
 
How would checking a trunk help detecting fake cases?

At the border, you have immigration checks and CUSTOMS checks. If they're checking your truck, they're looking for goods you shouldn't be importing - anything from drugs (BC bud) to medicines (cheaper in Canada) to iPhones (introduced into Canada later than in the US) to illegal immigrants (assuming you have a big enough trunk). Having a US passport is not carte blanche at the border. What do you think this is? Europe? :rolleyes:
 
That shouldn't piss you off in my opinion. From a customs point of view, H-1B, GC or US citizen, are more or less the same. The opening of the trunk was a customs request, not an immigration request. Same officer performing several different roles. I would never mind being asked to open the trunk. In fact it would allow me to show off my X5's automatic tailgate opening and closing :)


I was a little pissed off that he would check my trunk and my luggage......
 
One day before my oath I came back from Victoria by means of the Clipper & I was the first dude off the boat & the officer asked to check my carry on, he went thru it like I was trying to smugle ants.:mad: Who's getting paranoid here??:confused:
 
One day before my oath I came back from Victoria by means of the Clipper & I was the first dude off the boat & the officer asked to check my carry on, he went thru it like I was trying to smugle ants.:mad: Who's getting paranoid here??:confused:

Did he find any ant?
What's the problem?
 
Which port to use when entering US thru' Champlain

Hi, what port should I use when entering the US while returning from Montreal at the Champlain port? On the CBP website, a few are listed. I am not sure if one is better then the other, or if some are just for commercial traffic.

Please help. Here's the CBP website with the crossings listed.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/ny/0712.xml

Thanks.
 
Hi, what port should I use when entering the US while returning from Montreal at the Champlain port? On the CBP website, a few are listed. I am not sure if one is better then the other, or if some are just for commercial traffic.

Please help. Here's the CBP website with the crossings listed.

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/toolbox/contacts/ports/ny/0712.xml

Thanks.

If you're taking highway 15 from Montreal to highway 87 in NY, then it would be the Champlain border crossing. It's the main one on the link, the others aren't POEs but rather facilities.
 
If you're taking highway 15 from Montreal to highway 87 in NY, then it would be the Champlain border crossing. It's the main one on the link, the others aren't POEs but rather facilities.

Thank you very much Bobsmyth! I am on H1 and my wife on AOS, do you know if this border crossing is experienced with such cases or mainly American citizens?
 
OP
The part of the border is where a lot of illegal drugs come into US. I don't think it had anything to do with the passport, my guess it...they were just looking for drugs.
 
Thank you very much Bobsmyth! I am on H1 and my wife on AOS, do you know if this border crossing is experienced with such cases or mainly American citizens?

It's a major POE, so yes they do have staff on hand to deal with immigration matters. I've had friends who have renewed their visas there in the past as well with no issues. I assume your wife has advance parole since she is on AOS and traveling outside the US.
 
Top