Canadian oweing rental property in the United States -
QUESTION:
We just purchased property in Spokane washington( a 4 plex apartments)
We plan on renting out 3 of the units and keeping one. I was told by the border crossing inspector,
that I have to hire a rental agency in order to rent out the apartments.
and I also have to have a property manger full time..
We will be at our apartment approx 2 times a month..
So we do not need a property manager.
Do you know if this true,, or please direct me to the correct person that would be able to help me.
Thanks for your time.
----------------------------------------------------------
You need a property manager if you do not want the strong possibility of going to jail for a few days before being deported and then not allowed back in the USA. For a story about US Immigrations hell for a Holiday Inn Manager, try
http://apostille.us/news/local_holiday_inn_express_manager_in_jail_on_immigration_charges;_husband_fights_for_her_return.shtml
or how about a married woman's ordeal in Georgia for a traffic violation at
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=f4f1d2fb-07ae-4560-8f6c-703acf8146fb&k=0
Crossing the border when you have an ad running to show the premises and saying you are going down to spend the weekend in your holiday home (i.e lying to the HOMELAND Security official) could result in seizure of your vehicle and a ban for up to 10 years under their ER (Expedited Removal) process. In other words, it is more serious to lie to the guard at the border than it is to do the work.
You 'could' actually show the property for rent, but you can NOT write out a contract for rent or collect a single rent cheque (check) or cash for rent in the United States. There is nothing new about this. The first time I ran into it was in 1972 or 1973.
If you are physically there, you can NOT cut the grass, shovel the sidewalk, paint or decorate or repair or fix or remodel or improve or take out the garbage for any part of the rental property.
You can paint and clean your own unit if it is NEVER rented or intended to be rented. You can not paint and clean up getting the property ready for rent so DO NOT make the mistake of thinking you can live in one, clean it up and remodel it and then rent it out and do the same for another one and then another one and another one. If you do this and one of your tenants (who maybe doesn't like you because you evicted them or told them to turn their strereo down when you happen to be in town or for any other reason) read my website, (or the uscis website) he or she would find out that you can NOT do this stuff and could phone the Homeland Security office or write an anonymous letter and you could be arrested in November 2008 for something you did in December 2007.
This may seem unreal, but in US terms, working without a visa is just as serious in law as the spontaneous robbing of a convenience store and the penalties can be worse. Think of those nightly news shows with 28 illegal Mexican or Guatamelan citizens being stuffed into Paddy wagons on the Arizona border. This is not a racist comment but with the Mexican illegal immigrants, bing rounded up and shipped back across the border is a way of life with no social stigma. For a nice clean living Canadian, being thown into an immigration detention cell for taking money for rent is a devestating experience. In one case, a mother and her son were thrown into jail for 5 days in Phoenix when she went to Phoenix from White Rock BC. Her husband owned 18 units and HAD a property manager. Unfortunately, he also died in the arms of that female property manager and his widow then fired the property manager and she and her 20 year old son went to Phoenix to collect the rent and hire another property manager.
The property manager (who knew the law as everyone in Arizona does) phoned Homeland Security who showed up and arrested mother and son and threw them into the notorious Phoenix Immigration hell with some 300 other illegals. To rub salt into the widow's wounds, the property manager ended up with the property because she was a second mortgage holder on the property and the property fell into default because of the widow's cash flow troubles, largely becasue she could not go to phoenix to hire another property manager.
For instance, for 'you', this kind of arrest could result in imprisonment for a usual five days in a US immigration jail until you posted $5,000 bail each and then being banished from the US for five to ten years.
It does not stop there. This type of conviction would stop you getting on an airplane which stopped in the USA on the way to Mexico. AND, under new US laws that have been proposed but not yet actually put in place, the arrest and banning would stop your Nov 6 trip to Cancun because people in this position will not even be allowed on commercial airliners that are flying over any part of the US. To get to cancun, you would have to fly from Calgary or Vancouver to London England and then back to Mexico City and 'then' to Cancun and reverse it to get home.
This may be overkill but 'You' are / were lucky that the inspector gave you the correct advice BEFORE you put your foot in it.
By the way, for income tax You ALSO HAVE TO FILE A 1040NR US TAX RETURN WITH A SCHEDULE E AND A SCHEDULE 4562 EACH. Then the same income gets put on Schedule T776 of your Canadian return. If you have paid tax to the US, you will claim it as a credit on Canadian forms T2209 and T2036.
These older questions will help you AS WELL.
QUESTION: Hello David, I'm living in Vancouver, finally paid off the student debt but don't see myself getting into
the expensive Vancouver market. I do however like to ski and was thinking of buying an
inexpensive trailer (25k Cdn) in Maple Falls Washington.
However I'm not sure what other expensives I should expect given that it's in the US.
I'm not trying to make this an investment with a high return, but I would like to do some
handy work to it to increase the value. If I add about 10k worth of value, how would that
affect my taxes in the long term? Thanks for the advice.
---------------------------------------------- david ingram replies: One of my favourite weekends ever was in 1973 at the Chandelier (think it has a different name now) when marooned at SnowLine because of the gas shortage when one could only buy gas on odd days if your licence plate ende dwith an odd number and even days when it was an even number. Strangely, it was that weekend 34 years ago that lets me answer you question now. The cabin I was staying in was not a rental but was built by the fellow who owned it. When he was building it, buddies would come down and help him and one weekend, the INS raided the spot and deported a bunch of his friends for working in the US . He was fine building it because he owned it but no one else can hammer a nail, paint a board, install a sink, or carry a shingle if they are not either an owner or a legal US citizen or US resident with a green card. If your buddy is working and living inthe US with a TN, H1, O1, P1, L1 or any other visa but a green card, they cam NOT help you either. And, if you are intending to rent the trailer out 'EVER', 'you' can NOT hammer a nail, sweep the front steps or clean the toilet. Assuming you are buying this trailer on its own lot, when you go to sell, you will owe the US income tax on the profit. If it is your only pioece of real estate at that time, you will not owe Canada any tax because you can claim it as your personal residence if you have not bought another place. ------------------- However, I would far prefer that you stretched your resources to buy something in Canada to live in and combine your present rent and the payments you would have to make for the trailer to buy your home in Canada. If you can't afford a one bedroom, buy a studio. Go down to Ikea onteh Lougheed highway and look at how much they can put into a small space. Interestingly, I read the other day that Ikea has now sold enough furniture in North america that 10% of all children are conceived in an Ikea Bed. Now that is information worth knowing. Good luck
.
QUESTION:
If a Canadian citizen purchases real property in the U.S. are they required to have a U.S. Social Security Number? Am I correct that my tax liability will be to the U.S., whilst reporting my income to the CRA but with offsetting foreign tax credits due to paying U.S. income tax? For liability purposes, would it be more beneficial tax-wise to hold the U.S. properties under a Canadian or U.S. corporation? Thank you.
david ingram replies:
Assuming that you are going to rent the property out, you will need an ITIN (Individual Taxpayer Identification Number). Fill in a W-7 and submit it with your first tax return or try and get it at the bank where you get your mortgage.
I do not suggest a corporation in either country unless you want to spend a couple of thousand dollars a year extra on accounting. As a foreigner with a US corporation, you will need to fill in form 5472 with your 1120 corporation tax return. Then, becasue the mind and control of the coproration is in teh hands of a Canadian resident, you will need to file again in Canada.
This older Q & A may help
My wife and I are Canadian citizens and own a rental property (house) in Arizona.
Do I need to file income tax in the USA? Can we deduct the mortgage interest
and any expenses associated with the rental on our Canadian income tax return? Thanks and regards, ______________________________________________ david ingram replies If you do not file a US 1040NR with Schedule E and Arizona 140PY or 140NR return, you face the likely Federal penalties of a $1,000 to $10,000 fine each per year for failure to report rental income as a non-resident plus 30% of the gross rent with no expenses allowed. That is for each of you if you both own the property. And, I have never seen a $10,000 penalty. Then, you will EACH be assesed 30% of the gross rent with no expenses allowed. (Canada's penalty of just 25% of the gross rent with no expenses in reverse seems mild in comparison.) FILE the US returns for every year you have missed. THEN - There is NO responsibility for you to claim any rental expenses on your Canadian return. You can claim them if you wish on form T776. HOWEVER, you MUST report the gross rent on line 126 of your T1 if you do not claim expenses and the net rent if you do,.If there is a legitimate rental loss which has not been created by your using the unit personally, you can use the loss to reduce your other taxable income. A Warning. There is ample evidence that the IRS and CRA are pro-actively sharing information about these. And, if you are in a complex and using the unit personally NEVER talk about the fact you have not filed a US tax return and don't ask a local. I personally know of two people who make their living turning in Canadians who are not filing their US returns. There is a 10% to 30% reward for turning you in by filing US form 211. See it at www.irs.gov - click on forms, etc. If you need help with this, you now know where we are. ---- --QUESTION: We have a rental property in the US. Can I claim the property taxes paid on my condominium as a rental expense deduction on my Canadian taxes? Form T776 mentions only Canadian property taxes however, the general guide states that all expenses can be deducted. -------------------------------- david ingram replies: Anything that can be claimed on schedule E of the US return can be claimed on form T776 You need to do your Schedule E 1040NR first and then convert the US figures to the T776 on your Canadian return. If the condo is in Arizona, you would do a 140NR or if in Califormnia, a 540NR. There is no state tax in Florida, Texas or Nevada, the other three popular places for a Canadian to have a rental US condo. The difference between the two counties is the method of claiming depreciation. In the US, you MUST calculate thedepreciation and include it even if it creates a loss. The good news is that the operating loss caries forward as a future deduction agaisnt rent OR Capital Gains as opposed to non-resident losses in Canada which unfairly disappear into the ether. In Canada, you do NOT have to claim it and if you do, can only claim enough to create a zero rental. Depreciation or CCA (capital cost allowance) as we call it can NOT be used to create or increase a loss. Make sure that you do theUS returns, particularly if you are losing money. The penalty can be a minimum of $1,000 to $10,000 PLUS 30% of the gross rent for failure to file a US rental return by a non-resident. We, of course, are ideally suited to look after these for you by fax, snail mail, email or courier. --------- _____________________________________________
Hi,
My wife and I are looking at possibly purchasing a condo in Palm Springs for our retirement. We are both 50 years old and plan on working for the next 7 or 8 years. Our plan is to purchase and use it a few times a year and rent/lease it out for the remainder of the year until we reach retirement at which time we would spend 4 or 5 months a years there. Looking for some advice on what we should be looking out for and what would be a better choice mortgage wise, U.S. or Canadian funding. Or is it a good idea at all to purchase U.S. real estate as a Canadian? Any advice or literature that's out there that you could direct us to would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
xxxxx xxxxxxxx
david ingram replies:
If your intention is to start spending significant time there, buying now is extemely sensible because you are buying it at today's price which will logically go up in the futre. You 'are' of course, also dealing with exchange.
Since your earnings are in Canadian dollars, borrowing the money in Canada and paying cash in palm Springs means that you wil be paying in a known currency.
To explain that statement, persons who bought in 1991 with a US mortgage paymnet of $1,000 needed $1,145.87 Canadian dollars to make the payment. By 2001, they needed $1,548.62 to stay even.
However, in reverse, if you bought in 2002, you needed 1,570.36 and only need about $1,060 to stay even today.
Currency exchange does go both ways.
You might want to borrow half in Canada and take out a mortgage for half in Palm Springs.
If you are renting the property, you will both need to file a US Federal 1040NR with Shedule E and California 540NR return and then change the currency to Canadian and file form T776 with your Canadian T1 returns. Failure to file the form 1040NR can have penalties of $1,000 to $10,000 per year per return per person even if you lose money. A very real problem is that all sorts of Canadians approach a US accountant and ask about filing and are told they do not need to file a return because they are losing money. Not so. When it comes time to file, hunt down a specialist in dual country tax returns like Gary Gauvin in Dallas,, Steve Peters in Halifax, Kevyn Nightingale in Toronto, Brad Howland in Victoria or myself in Good Olde North Vancouver.
Whatever you do, do NOT buy it in a corporate name. You will not save anything and end up with another $2 or $3,000 of accounting fees.
You will also need to file personal US tax returns if you are there more than an average of 120 days a year.
The following is from my April 1994 newsletter which you can find at www.centa.com in the top left hand box. Note that it was written in 1994 and still appropos today.
|
April
1994 Pages
35-43
the CEN-TA PEDE david ingram's US/Canadian
Newsletter
CABINS
ACROSS THE BORDER and
"SNOWBIRDS" I recently received a copy of a
newsletter from a Canadian enclave in the State of Washington. The
newsletter dealt with the possible requirement to file a US tax return by
Canadians who have recreational property in the US. In this particular
case, there are some 2,000 Canadian members of this one enclave and there
are another 30 to 40,000 estimated Canadian owned recreational properties
in the US within a three hour drive of
Vancouver. The newsletter was very accurate in
explaining the "rules" but bothered me because it dealt mainly with
fear of filing rather than with the logical
solutions. Let
me explain There is nothing new about the
requirement of a Canadian Snowbird to file a US tax return if they are in
the US too many days. Many of you will remember when
Howard Hughes came to live at the BAYSHORE INN. For six months we were
titillated with Howard Hughes stories and the speculative question among
tax consultants was: "Would he stay more than 183
days?" The answer was "NO". He left
Vancouver (and Canada) on the 181st or 182nd day because if he had stayed
just one more day, he would have become taxable in Canada on his WORLD
INCOME. The United States had and has the
same 183 day rule as does Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, etc. The
difference is found in how the United States has calculated the 183 days
since 1984. That's right, these supposedly new rules are now just about 10
years old. What has changed is the stepped up enforcement of ten year old
existing tax laws. If you are in the US more than 183
days this year, you are taxable on your world income. But it can also
sneak up on you in the following
way. The United States calculates the 183
days for THIS year by counting some of the days for the preceding two
years if you have been in the US for more than 30 days in the current
year. So, if you have been in the US for
126 days a year for this year and the last two years, the calculation
is: 1993 126
days 1992 (1/3 of 126 days) 42
days 1991 (1/6 of 126 days) 21
days For a total of 189
days and you are taxable on your world
income unless you can prove you have a closer connection to another
country. You might want to and even be able
to prove you have a closer connection to Canada by filing a form 8840 but
"why bother" when filling out the tax return itself is easier and leaves
you free to "live your
life". On the other hand, filling out the
8840 just leaves a list of people for the IRS to look at and will leave
you paranoid. Filling out the tax form is usually relatively painless (if
you deal with my office, that is), and leaves you free to join a golf club
and be in (and out of) the US for 189, 210 or maybe even 300 (under these
extended rules) days as long as you have a full blown home waiting for you
in Canada or any other
country. US "IMMIGRATION" laws say that a
Canadian can be a visitor for up to six months. That literally means that
you can go across the border to your cabin, chalet, trailer pad,
ranchette, condo or sailboat in Elliott Bay, stay there for 180 days, come
back to your home in Canada for a day or a week or two, and go back for
another 180 days. US "INCOME TAX" law says that if you
do that, you have to file an American Tax Return. So what! 150,000,000
other people file a US tax return every year and they have to "PAY" tax to
the US. If you have already paid full tax to Canada and if all your income
comes from Canada, the US rules allow a foreign tax credit for the tax
paid to Canada. There is usually zero tax for the Canadian to pay to the
US. At "up to $40,000 US" for a couple,
there is usually no tax payable to the US. After $40,000 per couple, an
Alternative Minimum Tax can creep in. But do not worry. At $80,000 US, it
will not be over $600.00. And, if you do not mind me saying so, if you are
in the US for half the year, and you made over $80,000 US (about $105,000
Canadian), you can afford to pay $600.00 to the US.
If you do not want to pay the
Alternative Minimum Tax of $600, there is another simple solution which
you should have done anyway. Make sure you have some investment income
from the US. Say about $6,000 to $10,000. This will generate a tax
liability to the US First (don't worry, Canada will give you credit for
every cent paid to the US and reduce your Canadian tax accordingly).
Alternative Minimum Tax usually only kicks in when you aren't paying the
US any tax. What are the advantages of the
david ingram method of dealing with these
regulations? A. You are free to come and go
without worrying about the "tax
man". B. By having some of your wealth in
the US, you are hedging your retirement
dollar. C. You can join the library, golf
club, ski club, buy all the furniture you want, buy a golf cart, and just
plain enjoy your
surroundings. D. You will be forced to deal with
your medical insurance. At the moment, all sorts of SNOWBIRDS believe they
have coverage under the Canadian Medical Services plans while they are
spending most of their time in the US. LET ME WARN YOU HERE. POSSESSION of
a BC MEDICAL CARD does NOT mean you are covered. BC MEDICAL routinely
cancels medical insurance RETROACTIVELY when their investigators find a
person sleeping in the United States more than 183 days a year. BC
Medical, OHIP, New Brunswick and every other provincial medical plan all
insist that you "SLEEP" in that PROVINCE more than 183 nights to qualify
for their medical plans. E. You will not have to come up with
detailed answers for the 8840 which has questions
like: 19. Where were your personal
belongings, furniture, etc. located?
20. List social, cultural,
religious, and political organizations you currently participate in and
the location of each: a __________________________
Location
___________________________________ b __________________________
Location
___________________________________ c __________________________
Location
___________________________________ d __________________________
Location
___________________________________ e __________________________
Location
___________________________________ >>>>>>>>>(10
other questions> 31 List any charitable organizations
to which you made contributions and their
location. a __________________________
Location
___________________________________ b __________________________
Location
___________________________________ c __________________________
Location
___________________________________ d __________________________
Location
___________________________________ F. By filing as a "resident for tax
purposes" of the United States, you should escape inheritance tax on
amounts of over $60,000. (changing with new
treaty) WHAT
ARE THE
DISADVANTAGES? A. You have to file an extra tax
return. But so do residents of Quebec and you are getting cheaper gas,
eggs, milk and turkeys. B. No others that I can think
of. The following is a copy of a
"SNOWBIRD" article I wrote back in 1992 and which seems appropriate about
here. SNOWBIRDS The US government is starting to
enforce long standing rules against Canadian SNOWBIRDS, and, to be sure,
anyone else who spends a lot of time in the US. It can more easily apply
to someone who has a cabin in the San Juan Islands or a summer (winter)
cabin at Birch Bay, Point Roberts or Mount Baker as it can someone with
the place in Palm Springs or
Arizona. In particular, if you rent that
cabin out during the year, you MUST file a tax return as well. Failure to
report even $600 rent can result in an automatic tax of 30% of the gross
with no expenses allowed AND penalties plus a fine of (are you ready for
this?), up to $10,000 for failing to file the tax return "EVEN THOUGH YOU
LOST MONEY IN THE RENTAL
PROCESS". But back to SNOWBIRDS (or summer
visitors who go back and forth a lot to shop,
etc.). a TEN MINUTE TRIP ACROSS THE BORDER
COUNTS AS ONE DAY. GOING TO BIRCH BAY ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND COMING BACK TO
VANCOUVER ON MONDAY MORNING COUNTS AS FOUR DAYS. AND, The US counts the
number of days one is in the Country in the following
manner. Take the days present this year -
let's say 130 days add 1/3 of the days in the previous
year and if that was 120 we get another
40 days plus 1/6 of the days present two
years previous and if that was another 120 we get
20 days for a total of: 190
days and we are now taxable in the US on
our "WORLD" income. i.e., the person must report his or her Canadian
Pensions, interest, dividends, rents, farming and capital gains income to
the US as well as
Canada. The person is taxable in other
words, even if no income is coming from the US simply because of physical
presence. Canadians will remember back in 1977 when Howard Hughes was
ensconced in the Bayshore INN. He left town on his 182nd day because
Canada would have taxed Howard on his world income if he had stayed 2 more
days. It is possible to avoid this by
filing a "DECLARATION OF CLOSER CONNECTION TO CANADA" with the IRS Service
Centre, Philadelphia, PA, 19255. This Declaration would state that your
family, belongings, permanent residence, social and business ties are all
in Canada. The problem is that with time, these
ties "move south". The SNOWBIRD has bought a nicer place in Arizona than
they have in Nanaimo or Lethbridge. The Snowbird has bought a cheaper US
car in Arizona. The Snowbird has rented out their house in Campbell River
and is living in a motorhome in Arizona and California in the Winter and
travels through Canada in the Summer. The Canadian has taken out a US Visa
card and Mastercard. In other words, their centre of influence has moved
south and their closer ties are not "definitively" in Canada
anymore. And, if it is half and half or even
close to, the US will quite properly want a tax
return. But fear not. File the
Canadian tax return first and then file the US tax return and claim
foreign tax credits for the tax paid to Canada. Unless the income is over
$40,000 US, the tax paid to Canada is usually enough to wipe out any US
tax. If the income is over $40,000 US,
there may be a small amount of Alternative Minimum Tax to pay. The problem
is US Immigration Department's crackdown on Canadian Snowbirds or "border
livers" in motorhomes and other semi-permanent Canadians spending a lot of
time in the U.S. Let me use a few
examples: Situation
1 72 year old woman with a condominium
in Phoenix, Arizona. Has been spending every winter in Phoenix for the
past ten years. Owns a $400,000 house in Vancouver. She rents the house
out every winter and has no phone number in Vancouver "in the book"
because her number is disconnected when the phone book closes in January
every year. She is driving down to Phoenix after
renting out her house and the INS person at the U.S. Border questions her
closely. He decides that she "might" be trying to live in the U.S. and
turns her back at the border. He asks for such things as "phone bills", to
prove that she lives in Canada and is only "visiting" in the
U.S. Of course, she is in a tough spot.
She finds it easy to rent out her Vancouver House for a nominal rent every
winter but it is impossible to rent out her Phoenix condominium in the
summer when she is not using
it. The question is: "where is she
LIVING" and where is she
VISITING? INS has decided that she is now
"living" in the U.S. and "visiting" Canada and that is not legal without
going through a lengthy immigration process. Banned from the US under
these circumstances. Situation
2: A 70 year old man who with his wife
has had US resident alien cards for some 20 years and has been working in
the U.S. for the same twenty years and still is. Owns a house in Vancouver
that his mother lives in and a condominium in Los Angeles that he and his
wife have lived in for that twenty
years. He has a phone number in Vancouver
in the house that his mother lives in and he
owns. His wife is in Vancouver for an
extended period looking after his mother. He comes up for a weekend. On
the way back through Vancouver Airport, he is questioned by INS. He
innocently tells the story to the INS officer who decides that with a
phone number in Vancouver and his wife in Vancouver for 19 months, and
because he has a BC Medical Card, the person has likely given up his
residence in the U.S. and starts to take away his resident alien card.
Calmer heads prevail and he is allowed to keep it but told he better
straighten out his act. He has made the mistake of having all sorts of
Canadian Identification including a B.C. medical Card. There is a "theory"
that he is not allowed to have a B.C. Medical card if he is a resident of
California. U.S. INS officer reports him to B.C.
Medical. Situation
3 A couple sell their house and buy an
expensive Canadian Registered (that is the key to me - if they
were not intending to be Canadians, the motorhome would have been $80,000
U.S. cheaper in the U.S.) Beaver motorhome. They spend some
time in the U.S. and come home for Xmas and then start off to tour some
more. They have been told by a 100 people that they can be in the U.S. as
visitors for up to 183 days
legally. After Xmas, they leave to go south
at Huntington Crossing and are told that they cannot enter as they cannot
prove that they "LIVE" in Canada. Their mailing address is their
daughter's house and they have no phone number, etc. Their vacation -
retirement - snowbirding is ruined as they are not allowed in the US as
visitors. Situation
4 This is out of the Vancouver Sun, I
have not met the people. Another couple sell their home and
buy a truck and trailer. They spend some time in the U.S. and come back up
to Vancouver to visit. They leave the trailer in Redmond, Washington, and
when they go to go back to the U.S. after their Vancouver visit, an INS
person at Huntington / Sumas crossing denies them entry on the grounds
that they do not have a home in Canada. He is allowed 3 days compassionate
leave to get his trailer and return to Canada (again, please note that the
truck and trailer are registered in
Canada). Situation
5 A Couple sell their condo in
Vancouver and rent another apartment in the same building. They keep the
same phone number. They buy a house in Whatcom County and check with an
INS officer at the Huntington crossing as to whether they can take some of
their furniture down (this book says they can). When they go to visit
their house at Xmas, 1991 (two weeks after talking to the INS officer)
with a U-Haul trailer full of their excess furniture, they are questioned
at the same Huntington Border Crossing by the same INS officer and denied
entry. The INS officer asks for such things as address, phone number,
etc., and of course, the address in the phone book is different. The house
in the U.S. is far nicer than the rented apartment. The house in the U.S.
is within commuting distance to the husband's
employment. The INS officer decides they are
going to "LIVE" in the U.S. and spend occasional time in Vancouver "if"
they even really have a place in Vancouver. They are denied entry to the
US with their excess
furniture. Situation
6 A couple with a house in Greater
Vancouver and a cabin at Point Roberts are denied access to their cabin
before Xmas. They are told by the INS officer that they have been in the
U.S. too much in 1991 and to come back in
1992. Situation
7 A young lady with a boy friend in
Seattle whom she visits on a regular basis with no problems is denied
entry to the U.S. when she arrives at the border driving a rental car. She
shares an apartment in Vancouver with someone and there is no phone in her
name. She has stuff in her luggage that indicates she spends a lot of time
in Seattle and also has a picture in the car which she is talking down as
a present. It "LOOKS LIKE" maybe she lives in Seattle and visits
Vancouver. Situation
8 Same situation, different cities. A
young lady with a fiancee working in Chicago for two years flies down to
visit him almost every weekend from Toronto. She works for an airline and
it costs her virtually nothing do fly down. She shares an apartment in
Toronto and has no phone, and little Toronto ID. Even her car is a company
car so she doesn't have a car, phone, or apartment in her name even though
she has a full time job in Toronto and that is obvious from her business
identification and a call to her
employer. The INS officer is not satisfied. he
feels she is living with her boyfriend in Chicago and commuting to work in
Toronto. She is banned from the U.S. but invited to get proof of her
Canadian Residence. Situation
9 I do not know this couple either. It
comes from CTV National News. Couple in Maple Ridge are going to U.S.
through the same Huntington crossing. They have been down dozens of times.
They are asked if they have ever been arrested. He says no because he has
a Canadian pardon. For some reason, the INS people check. He was arrested
and charged and convicted 18 years before for the possession of a single
marijuana cigarette. HER car is seized. At last word, the car was not
being returned and will not
be. Situation
10 Same Crossing. A Vancouver City
Policeman who has a criminal charge against him and is under suspension is
going across the border with his wife and one other person. His truck is
seized for trying to get into the U.S. while under a charge. It also turns
out his wife has a criminal
record. You see; it does not matter whether
you are asked or not, it is illegal to enter the U.S. if you have a
criminal record or have been arrested unless you have a waiver from the
U.S. Department of Justice. And, if you are taking someone else across
with your car or they borrow your car and drive across the US border
without mentioning the charge (even with a waiver form), you lose your
car. Situation
11 Osooyos Crossing, Aug 19, 1992. A
couple and their two children and 8 friends are crossing to the U.S. for
Mexican Food at Oroville, Washington. They are in a 33 foot motorhome and
INS decides to question all people asking where born, what citizenship,
where they live, and have you ever been arrested. Driver says yes but not
convicted. INS officer takes information and comes back a few minutes
later and bans driver from
U.S. INS officer warns all other members
of party that they are not to assist driver across U.S. border or they can
be arrested themselves. Tells driver "I am sure glad you said YES, or I
would have had this motorhome". It took "david ingram" 4 months to
get an official waiver to go back to
U.S. You see, an arrest in Canada and
either a "Stay of proceedings", or an "Absolute Discharge", or a
"Conditional Discharge" is treated by the U.S. as if you were convicted,
even if the offense is minor. Getting charged with stealing a loaf of
bread can have you banned from the U.S. for
life. The solution is to get a "Canadian
Non-Resident Alien Border Crossing Card" and waiver. This costs $80.00
U.S. and requires fingerprinting by the RCMP and FBI but is a relatively
painless experience. If you wish more information on this topic, we would
be glad to assist. There are also regular advertisements for "Pardons" and
"U S Waivers" in the Vancouver Sun and Province. Write for more
information to: David Ingram, 201-935 Marine Drive, North Vancouver, B.C.,
V7P 1S3 or fax to (604) 649-4759 or call (604)
657-8451. Situation
12 A "highly placed" lady from Ottawa
decides to sneak into a class at a University in the U.S. for a semester.
She does not bother with the formality of a Student "F-1" visa but just
"goes south". She has student cards, library cards, etc. Then she comes up
to Canada for a weekend with a fellow lady student from the University
(these are not kids, these are 30 year old women). When going back to the
U.S. in the U.S. student's car, she is questioned and the U.S. student
I.D. is found. She is banned from the
U.S. She has been identified and should
know that an INS officer might check later at the U.S. University to see
if she has snuck in, BUT she just isn't
thinking. She calls a Canadian Friend and
tells her what happened. the Canadian says, don't worry, I'll take you
down, we'll just say we are going shopping". The Canadian picks up the
Canadian Student and they arrange to meet the American student on the
other side of the border. They make it across but the U.S. Border people
follow the American car which now is short a Canadian
Student. Wh Story OptionsTrackbackTrackback URL for this entry: http://www.centa.com/trackback.php/CanWeekofMon20071022000405.html No trackback comments for this entry. |
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