Old drug use or charge -

Question

I was searched at the US border two days ago.  They did not find anything but I was asked if I had ever smoked marijuana.  I said yes, and mentioned that President Clinton had even smoked marijuana.

Wham!

I was treated like a criminal, fingerprinted, and banned from the United States.

I was told I had to get a waiver.  What's a waiver?

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david ingram replies:

Admitting to the smoking of marijuana, the taking of Magic mushrooms, being part of an LSD experiment in the sixties are all grounds for inadmissibility to the United States.

Bill Clinton admitted to smoking Marijuana in Britain.  If he had not been a US Citizen, that admission is enough to ban him from the USA for life.  Most people caught in this have been to the states 50 to 100 times before it rears its ugly head.

Our BC Premier was arrested and jailed in Hawaii for Drunk Driving.  If he was not a Caandian citizen, that is enough to ban him from Canada for life (without a waiver from Canada).  In August 1998, We banned and refused entry to FBI Assistant Director Carmacks because he had an eight year old SUI in Georgia.

And whatever you do, don't have  a blog about your old experiences or mention it in an email. 

The following story from the Herald Tribune will explain the process and why and futility.  Now that I have said that, I think that Mr Feldman has  over-reacted.  Getting a waiver is tedious and embarrassing but relatively easy to do .  You do NOT need a lawyer.  Just fill in the paperwork.  There are organizations that can help that I mention further on.  I don't do it anymore because I am too busy with tax but up to 2000, had likley helped over 100 people with their waiver applications and none were turned down that I know of.

This comes from: http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/14/news/legal.php

 

Web searches at U.S. border bring scrutiny to new level

Andrew Feldmar, a Vancouver psychotherapist, was on his way to pick up a friend at the Seattle airport last summer when he ran into a little trouble at the border.

A guard typed Feldmar's name into an Internet search engine, which revealed that he had written about using LSD in the 1960s in an interdisciplinary journal. Feldmar was turned back and is no longer welcome in the United States, where he has been active professionally and where both of his children live.

Feldmar, 66, has a distinguished résumé, no criminal record and a candid manner. Though he has not used illegal drugs since 1974, he says he has no regrets.

"It was an absolutely fascinating and life-altering experience for me," he said last week of his experimentation with LSD and other psychedelic drugs. "The insights it provided have lasted for a lifetime. It allowed me to feel what it would be like to live without habits."

Feldmar said he had been in the United States more than 100 times and always without incident since he last took an illegal drug. But that changed in August, thanks to the happenstance of an Internet search, conducted for unexplained reasons, at the Peace Arch border station in Blaine, Washington.

The search turned up an article in a 2001 issue of the journal Janus Head devoted to the legacy of R.D. Laing, with whom Feldmar had studied in London about 30 years before.

"I traveled to many regions many times with the help of many different substances," Feldmar wrote of his experiences with Laing and other psychiatrists and therapists. "I took peyote, psilocybin mushrooms, cannabis" and other drugs, he added, "but I kept coming back to LSD."

He was asked by a border guard whether he was the author of the article and whether it was true. Yes, he replied. And yes.

Feldmar was held for four hours, fingerprinted and, after signing a statement conceding the long-ago drug use, sent home.

Mike Milne, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection agency in Seattle, said he could not discuss individual cases for reasons of privacy. But the law is clear, Milne said. People who have used drugs are not welcome here.

"If you are or have been a drug user," he said, "that's one of the many things that can make you inadmissible to the United States."

He added that the government was constantly on the hunt for new sources of information. "Any new technology that we have available to us, we use to do searches on," Milne said.

Feldmar has been told by the American consul general in Vancouver that he may now enter the United States only if he obtains a formal waiver.

"Both our countries have very similar regulations regarding issuance of visas for citizens who have violated the law," the consul, Lewis Lukens, wrote to Feldmar in September. "The issue here is not the writing of an article, but the taking of controlled substances."

The waiver process would require a lawyer, several thousand dollars and dishonesty, Feldmar said. He would have to say he has been rehabilitated.

"Rehabilitated from what?" he asked. "It's degrading, literally degrading."

Ethan Nadelmann, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which works to ease drug penalties, said Feldmar's case proved how arbitrary U.S. drug policy can be. "Roughly a majority of the population of the United States between the ages of 18 and 58 has violated a drug law at least once," he said.

Feldmar said, "I should warn people that the electronic footprint you leave on the Net will be used against you. It cannot be erased."


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The Following two stories come from my April 1994 newsletter

--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.
--------
And this is a newsletter from a couple of weeks ago  It also deals with getting a Canadian Pardon if you have an actual conviction and have not just admitted to something morally illegal under US and / or Canadian law.  Remember that in the 70's, John Sheffield received a fie year sentence for possession of LSD on the very same day that the LeDain Commission recommended that marijuana be lefgalized or at least decriminalized.

hope this all helps
-

David Ingram wrote:

On January 29, 2008, David Ingram wrote:

It is very unlikely that blind or unexpected email to me will be answered.  I receive anywhere from 100 to 700  unsolicited emails a day and usually answer anywhere from 2 to 20 if they are not from existing clients.  Existing clients are advised to put their 'name and PAYING CUSTOMER' in the subject line and get answered first.  I also refuse to be a slave to email and do not look at it every day and have never ever looked at it when I am out of town. 
e bankruptcy expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax  service and help
However, I regularly search for the words"PAYING CUSTOMER" and always answer them first if they did not get spammed out. For the last two weeks, I have just found out that my own email notes to myself have been spammed out and as an example, as I wrote this on Dec 25, 2007 since June 16th, my 'spammed out' box has 47,941 unread messages, my deleted box has 16645 I have actually looked at and deleted and I have actually answered 1234 email questions for clients and strangers without sending a bill.  I have also put aside 847 messages that I am maybe going to try and answer because they look interesting. -e bankruptcy expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax service and  help
Therefore, if an email is not answered in 24 to 48 hours, it is likely lost in space.  You can try and resend it but if important AND YOU TRULY WANT OR NEED AN ANSWER from 'me', you will have to phone to make an appointment.  Gillian Bryan generally accepts appointment requests for me between 10:30 AM and 4:00 PM Monday to Friday VANCOUVER (Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles) time at (604) 980-0321.  david ingram expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax  service and help.
david ingram's US / Canada Services
US / Canada / Mexico tax, Immigration and working Visa Specialists
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My Home office is at:
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Cell (604) 657-8451 -
(604) 980-0321 Fax (604) 980-0325

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Disclaimer:  This question has been answered without detailed information or consultation and is to be regarded only as general comment.   Nothing in this message is or should be construed as advice in any particular circumstances. No contract exists between the reader and the author and any and all non-contractual duties are expressly denied. All readers should obtain formal advice from a competent and appropriately qualified legal practitioner or tax specialist for expert help, assistance, preparation, or consultation  in connection with personal or business affairs such as at www.centa.com. If you forward this message, this disclaimer must be included." e bankruptcy expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax  service and help.
David Ingram gives expert income tax & immigration help to non-resident Americans & Canadians from New York to California to Mexico  family, estate, income trust trusts Cross border, dual citizen - out of country investments are all handled with competence & authority.
 
Phone consultations are $450 for 15 minutes to 50 minutes (professional hour). Please note that GST is added if product remains in Canada or is to be returned to Canada or a phone consultation is in Canada. ($472.50 with GST if in Canada) expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax  service and help.
This is not intended to be definitive but in general I am quoting $900 to $3,000 for a dual country tax return.
$900 would be one T4 slip one W2 slip one or two interest slips and you lived in one country only (but were filing both countries) - no self employment or rentals or capital gains - you did not move into or out of the country in this year.
 
$1,200 would be the same with one rental
 
$1,300 would be the same with one business no rental
 
$1,300 would be the minimum with a move in or out of the country. These are complicated because of the back and forth foreign tax credits. - The IRS says a foreign tax credit takes 1 hour and 53 minutes.
 
$1,600 would be the minimum with a rental or two in the country you do not live in or a rental and a business and foreign tax credits  no move in or out

$1,700 would be for two people with income from two countries

$3,000 would be all of the above and you moved in and out of the country.
 
This is just a guideline for US / Canadian returns
 
We will still prepare Canadian only (lives in Canada, no US connection period) with two or three slips and no capital gains, etc. for $200.00 up.
 
With a Rental for $400, two or three rentals for $550 to $700 (i.e. $150 per rental) First year Rental - plus $250.
 
A Business for $400 - Rental and business likely $550 to $700
 
And an American only (lives in the US with no Canadian income or filing period) with about the same things in the same range with a little bit more if there is a state return.
 
Moving in or out of the country or part year earnings in the US will ALWAYS be $900 and up.
 
TDF 90-22.1 forms are $50 for the first and $25.00 each after that when part of a tax return.
 
8891 forms are generally $50.00 to $100.00 each.
 
18 RRSPs would be $900.00 - (maybe amalgamate a couple)
 
Capital gains *sales)  are likely $50.00 for the first and $20.00 each after that.

Catch - up returns for the US where we use the Canadian return as a guide for seven years at a time will be from $150 to $600.00 per year depending upon numbers of bank accounts, RRSP's, existence of rental houses, self employment, etc. Note that these returns tend to be informational rather than taxable.  In fact, if there are children involved, we usually get refunds of $1,000 per child per year for 3 years.  We have done several catch-ups where the client has recieved as much as $6,000 back for an $1,800 bill and one recently with 6 children is resulting in over $12,000 refund. 

This is a guideline not etched in stone.  If you do your own TDF-90 forms, it is to your advantage. However, if we put them in the first year, the computer carries them forward beautifully.
 
This from "ask an income trusts tax service and immigration expert" from www.centa.com or www.jurock.com or www.featureweb.com. David Ingram deals on a daily basis with expatriate tax returns with multi jurisdictional cross and trans border expatriate problems  for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Kuwait, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, China, New Zealand, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Russia, Georgia, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Scotland, Ireland, Hawaii, Florida, Montana, Morocco, Israel, Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Mali, Bangkok, Greenland, Iceland, Cuba, Bahamas, Bermuda, Barbados, St Vincent, Grenada,, Virgin Islands, US, UK, GB, and any of the 43 states with state tax returns, etc. Rockwall, Dallas, San Antonio Houston, Denmark, Finland, Sweden Norway Bulgaria Croatia Income Tax and Immigration Tips, Income Tax  Immigration Wizard Antarctica Rwanda Guru  Consultant Specialist Section 216(4) 216(1) NR6 NR-6 NR 6 Non-Resident Real Estate tax specialist expert preparer expatriate anti money laundering money seasoning FINTRAC E677 E667 105 106 TDF-90 Reporting $10,000 cross border transactions Grand Cayman Aruba Zimbabwe South Africa Namibia help USA US Income Tax Convention. Advice on bankruptcy  e bankruptcy expert  US Canada Canadian American  Mexican Income Tax service and help .

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