I never have had any problems crossing in to Canada, and it is usually with two cats with us. We do have Nexus now, which makes it faster if we are traveling only with other people with Nexus- you just call in and tell them you are coming in/leaving!

According to a friend at DoJ

If you want a faster response time you should send your request to the principal contact at Customs (found here http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiacontacts.htm)

Mark Hanson
Director
FOIA Division
799 9th Street, NW
Mint Annex
Washington, DC 20229
telephone number: (202) 325-0150
fax number: (202) 325-0154

The address you used is for the U.S. Customs routing office, which will then take your letter and send it to the principal contact, adding a few weeks to your response time.

Muse thx, Giulietta

When my hubby (Scott) last returned from Honduras (where he travels once a year), the guy looking at his passport detained him. Scott’s name came up in a (bad) database…and so he was deemed suspicious. Airport guy said evidently someone had stolen Scott’s identity for a passport (but nothing else was ever affected, credit reports, etc.).

Always the opportunity for mistakes and wrongdoing, eh?!

I live on the border of USA and Canada and I get asked SO many questions about my “line of work” and why I’ve traveled so much. On both sides. A lot of questions like “woah, what do you do for work?!” implying that traveling should be outlawed or something. Gah. Anyways, I usually just smile and use my feminine charms and then they realize I’m just going to the USA/CAD for like 30 minutes to visit someone or go buy toilet paper.

In any case, I’m really curious about what you find out!

To be honest, I’m not 100% sure which data is included, which is why I’m curious to see what I get back. However, I would not be surprised if overseas trips are on the list, since passports are scanned almost everywhere now. At different points on my travels, immigration officials have sometimes commented on previous countries after scanning the passport.

Maybe someone else knows more than me – let’s see.

You are suggesting that US federal government knows about our travel which occurs completely outside US. I have wondered if this was the case, and I’m not sure that it is.

I frequently try by purchasing R/T to somewhere, then take a side trip within that. Example: I fly from US to Brazil (and back), and while there flt to Argentina (on a Brazilian airline, purchased on a totally separate itinerary, directly from the airline – or even on Expedia since they don’t know my passport number). Does the US federal government know I went to Argentina?

What about land borders? I’ve crossed Thailand/Laos, Cambodia/Vietnam, China/HK, Nicaragua/CR, etc. etc. on foot. Are these reported to the US federal government? There are other ways to find out I was in a particular country, but I am wondering if actual border crossings are recorded somewhere. I have always assumed that they were not, unless they were part of an itinerary which included US.

I find it interesting that you find Canadian immigration guys tough. I always find that I get ulcers when going through US immigration, even as a Canadian citizen. I used to carry a Philippine passport, and that wasn’t a walk in the park through immigration at all. These days, I feel like I’m being questioned, “Are you bad?” Like I am even questioning if I am a bad person…I’ve been thought of trying to find someone to marry a US citizen for immigration or stay there illegally and find work, and neither is the case. It just sucks in general. When going to Canada with US residents/citizens, the feeling is more of “Are you going to be good?”

Anyway, interesting points you have here. I especially like hearing it from an American’s perspective because I always have and hear terrible stories from fellow Canadians about the border.

As for the U.S. Border, the last time I cross by car at Niagara, they were reluctant to let us go through because we only had driver license or universal medical insurrance card to show as ID. It was in 1996, way before the crazyness of 9/11.

Danny

Rouyn-Noranda, Canada