Elevated U.S. border crossing security?

[metoo4]

Hello my neighbors,


Do they agents have the right to ask how much money you make ?

Hell no a trillion times.

Whether I make 10 thousand or a million is none of their business.

I told them I have no weapons or drugs or any illegal stuffs, that is all they need to know.

The @$sholes asked me how much I make a year.

That is like intercept my cell phones or emails.
That violates my privacy rights!!!!

The answer to all the above is YES! More in the States than Canada but, yes! Some are legally harder to do than other but all can be done. Asking you how much $$ you make is easy and doesn't cost them a penny! You don't need to answer, it only depends how you don't answer Again, it's a matter where the guy didn't care about the answer, just how you would react to the question! Answering "Way more you can dream of..." would be wrong. "I make enough to survive." would not be bad... It's all in the way it's said.

But I smell a "smart ass" attitude here (anybody surprised?) where you got to the booth with an "I'm better than you" face and dumped-out something like "I don't carry anything illegal so leave me alone and bother with real criminals, you dumb ass..." Even if not said like this, attitude can silently say a lot! That's what they look for. Next time, just a suggestion, check in a mirror right before you get to the booth. It's not a joke, not a bad comment, it's serious! Some companies even tell representatives to do that before they pick the phone! It's harder to be bitchy when you see you look bitchy!

NEVER volunteer answers without being asked a question, unless you do have something to declare. Some of these border guards will feel you're pushing them and trying to show them their job: they don't like that! Some very few peoples will get away saying almost anything to anybody but, it's very few, me not included and visibly not you either so, being funny or a smart ass isn't an option at border check points.

 

[IamNY]

I am traveling to Montreal from the Burlintgton airport. We will be renting a car to cross the border. One of my buddies has to be back a day earlier than I do. Does anyone think I will have any issues if I cross back over to the US to drop off my buddy and then come back over the border a few hours later to stay an extra night? I just get a feeling that I am asking for a long delay trying to get back into Canada.

 

[metoo4]

No problems. You'll only be stuck in border traffic twice!

Just a few things:
Be 100% certain you don't carry anything illegal... (recreational substances?) as they might interpret the multiple crossing as an attempt to traffic and search you a bit more on the second crossing.
Also, ensure all your papers are in order.

Check with the car rental company if you're allowed in Canada with the car. Some prohibit it totally, some allow it with a special authorization and some don't give a damn. Also ensure whatever insurance is valid in Canada.

 

[IamNY]

Thanks for the heads up. The first thing I did when I set up the rental car was to ensure that I can drive it over the border. You are right, some of the rental agencies won't allow it. My auto insurance in the states work in Canada, I just need to carry a different insurance card that my insurance company provided me with. The traffic will suck, but hopefully the talent will be so good that it won't bother me at all.

 

[Big Daddy Cool]

I am traveling to Montreal from the Burlintgton airport. We will be renting a car to cross the border. One of my buddies has to be back a day earlier than I do. Does anyone think I will have any issues if I cross back over to the US to drop off my buddy and then come back over the border a few hours later to stay an extra night? I just get a feeling that I am asking for a long delay trying to get back into Canada.

Not at all. People who live close to the border go back and forth, some on a daily bases with little or trouble. Most people who have a hard time tend to be those with attitudes which will piss off boarder control.

 

[daydreamer41]

I am traveling to Montreal from the Burlintgton airport. We will be renting a car to cross the border. One of my buddies has to be back a day earlier than I do. Does anyone think I will have any issues if I cross back over to the US to drop off my buddy and then come back over the border a few hours later to stay an extra night? I just get a feeling that I am asking for a long delay trying to get back into Canada.

They do log license plates. They will ask you when is the last time you have been to Canada. Then you will have to tell them your story that you just dropped your friend back from the airport in VT. Does anyone think stopping at the Canadian border patrol before going thru the US border would save walooo a lot of time?

I have a feeling that leaving Canada and re-entering Canada in a space of 2 hours will trigger at least a search of his car. Depending on the volume of the traffic back to Canada could result in a long trip back. Maybe your friend can catch a bus back to Burlington?

 

[IamNY]

They do log license plates. They will ask you when is the last time you have been to Canada. Then you will have to tell them your story that you just dropped your friend back from the airport in VT. Does anyone think stopping at the Canadian border patrol before going thru the US border would save walooo a lot of time?

I have a feeling that leaving Canada and re-entering Canada in a space of 2 hours will trigger at least a search of his car. Depending on the volume of the traffic back to Canada could result in a long trip back. Maybe your friend can catch a bus back to Burlington?

I couldn't do that to my friend. But, stopping before I cross over to the US sounds like a plan, but I could see that getting screwed up somehow.I pretty much expect to be searched on the way back because it looks suspicious. I am sure that I am not the only person to have ever done this, so after they bust my balls and I yes sir them/no sir them to death I should be allowed back in.

 

[EagerBeaver]

Thegreatwaloo,

If it is of some comfort to you, I once checked out of my Montreal hotel, crossed the border into the USA, realized I had forgotten important medication at the hotel in Montreal, and drove back to Montreal after having crossed into the USA.

It happened on the same weekend I locked myself out of my hotel room wearing only my underwear, a misadventure I wrote about on this Board:

https://merb.cc/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=15720&highlight=locked

I locked myself out of my room and then later forgot the medicine because I had taken some sleeping pills the night before (I suffer from chronic insomnia and was hoping to get a good night`s sleep for the long trip back to the US), which made me excessively groggy and stupid.

When I got across the border, I realized I left some other medicine that I needed to take at the hotel. I turned around and went back. The Canadian border guards heard my story and they must have said to themselves, "this is too off the wall not to be true, no way he could have made this up." They let me drive back to Montreal, and go back to the hotel. No search. I got my medicine, and it was still where I had left it as the cleaning ladies fortunately had not gotten to that room yet.

Just tell them the truth and you will have nothing to worry about.

 

[IamNY]

EB, that is what I figured. No reason to come up with a story, just tell them the truth.

 

[Rango]

The advice here given is correct.

Answer the questions ,be polite and everything will be fine.
They are just doing their job to protect.

Orange alert was issued for the past few days now down to Yellow...hence the rigid inspections.

Daily advisory here.
R

Rango here,

If people ( regardless of their so called authority) feel you you respect them and you want to make their job easy for them things should go fine. If we need to have our own video cameras in our cars watching them; their job just got alot harder.

 

[korbel]

Don't do this.

Hello all,

Call me fool, idiot, moron...whatever on this one, but if you are driving a rented car you will have fun at the border. In this case, carrying a summarized copy of the Montreal spreadsheet is a really bad idea...in the mode of "too stupid to live". Maybe they just saw it as a "beneficial confiscation". After making me sweat for a long time over this scarry situation they let me go with..."have a nice day"...WHEW!!! I am so glad the Thai sex slaves insisted on going to Bimini that week.

Lucky me,

Korbel