Help: Confused about rules/Regulations about entering Canada by bike
04-27-06, 11:27 AM
#26
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Here's the information I was talking about regarding proof of purchase/ownership (quote from a person who checked into this):
What does Canada Customs have to say about returning to Canada with
goods that were supposedly purchased in Canada.
1) They have the right to require proof that you took the item with you upon
leaving Canada. Failure to provide proof can result in confiscation of the
item ( rarely done, but....)
2) They do not require proof of purchase or proof of ownership, they just
want to know that the object started it's domestic journey in Canada. Proof
of purchase from a Canadian source can usually satisfy their concern, but
they recognize that for many items such proof is old and not available.
SO......
The next time you plan to travel outside of Canada take you bike, cameras,
skis, etc. to a Canadian Customs Office and request Form # Y 38. The
officer will dutifully record the serial number of the item on the 'form'
and that's it. Carry the form ( it's a wallet sized card) with you when you
take the item out of the country and present it if asked about the origin of
the item on your return. They'll be happy as you did it their way.
If you have any questions call the Customs 1-800 #. A hint, go straight to
the live responder by pressing 'operator/0'.
Now, I don't know what the deal would be for a US citizen coming to Canada and then trying to return to the US, but I think it would be worth checking before you end up at the border trying to prove that your stuff was originally purchased in the US.
This website may be of some assistance ... it backs up the bit I just mentioned above:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/....html#P69_3330
Protecting your valuables
Before travelling outside of Canada with valuable items, you may wish to take advantage of a free identification service that is available at any of our CBSA offices. This service is available for items that have serial numbers or other unique markings. For items that do not have such markings, the CBSA can apply a sticker to them so they can be identified for customs purposes as goods legally in Canada.
When you show your valuables to the CBSA officer and state that you acquired them in Canada or lawfully imported them, the officer will list your valuables and their serial numbers on a wallet-sized card called a Form Y38, Identification of Articles for Temporary Exportation. If you are questioned about your goods when you return to Canada, simply show your card to the CBSA officer. This will help identify the valuables that were in your possession before leaving the country.
It also tells Canadians what they need in the way of identification to cross the border.
Here's the main page - it's the Canada Border Services Agency site:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-e.html
I'm guessing that the US would have a similar site.
What does Canada Customs have to say about returning to Canada with
goods that were supposedly purchased in Canada.
1) They have the right to require proof that you took the item with you upon
leaving Canada. Failure to provide proof can result in confiscation of the
item ( rarely done, but....)
2) They do not require proof of purchase or proof of ownership, they just
want to know that the object started it's domestic journey in Canada. Proof
of purchase from a Canadian source can usually satisfy their concern, but
they recognize that for many items such proof is old and not available.
SO......
The next time you plan to travel outside of Canada take you bike, cameras,
skis, etc. to a Canadian Customs Office and request Form # Y 38. The
officer will dutifully record the serial number of the item on the 'form'
and that's it. Carry the form ( it's a wallet sized card) with you when you
take the item out of the country and present it if asked about the origin of
the item on your return. They'll be happy as you did it their way.
If you have any questions call the Customs 1-800 #. A hint, go straight to
the live responder by pressing 'operator/0'.
Now, I don't know what the deal would be for a US citizen coming to Canada and then trying to return to the US, but I think it would be worth checking before you end up at the border trying to prove that your stuff was originally purchased in the US.
This website may be of some assistance ... it backs up the bit I just mentioned above:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/E/pub/cp/....html#P69_3330
Protecting your valuables
Before travelling outside of Canada with valuable items, you may wish to take advantage of a free identification service that is available at any of our CBSA offices. This service is available for items that have serial numbers or other unique markings. For items that do not have such markings, the CBSA can apply a sticker to them so they can be identified for customs purposes as goods legally in Canada.
When you show your valuables to the CBSA officer and state that you acquired them in Canada or lawfully imported them, the officer will list your valuables and their serial numbers on a wallet-sized card called a Form Y38, Identification of Articles for Temporary Exportation. If you are questioned about your goods when you return to Canada, simply show your card to the CBSA officer. This will help identify the valuables that were in your possession before leaving the country.
It also tells Canadians what they need in the way of identification to cross the border.
Here's the main page - it's the Canada Border Services Agency site:
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/menu-e.html
I'm guessing that the US would have a similar site.
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Last edited by Machka; 04-27-06 at 11:34 AM.
04-27-06, 03:29 PM
#27
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I am a Canadian living in the US in a border state. I go across regularly. Up to this point I have just had to show my Green card and my drivers license for reentry into the US (the green card is used as proof of citizenship. I always had a birth certificate with a raised seal (that is the key) for my children, now they have their drivers licenses and it seems if I prove who I am they never ask them.
When I went up at Easter however I was asked to prove citizenship going INTO Canada. I didn't have my birth certificate or passport with me but they too accepted the green card.
Machka is right re reporting items of value at the repective customs office before leaving the country. I went to college here (the US) and would constantly transport items back and forth. I just had them fill the card out before leaving the country and I was more than free to bring it back in. (fill it out on the US side before going into Canada if valuables originated in the US)
Contact your senators if you don't want the more stringent rules of a passport required - all the Northern tier senators are trying to settle on a more reasonable solution.
I always laugh thinking about Joe Farmer transporting his tractor and cultivator to his Canadian field and being interrogated for 2 hours because he forgot his passport that morning and it is a trip he makes every other day all summer. Or my friend who runs cattle right against the border and if they break through the fence he can't go get them right away - must run home and get the passport. OOPs what about MAD COW disease ? ? ? - those naughty cows wandering off like that!
And on another sort of related note - when I took the trolley from San Diego to Tiajuana and walked in - there wasn't a customs agent anywhere. But I totally got searched and had book matches confiscated when I flew into Cancun - I guess Cancun has a lot more questionable characters entering than Tiajuana!
To make a long note longer be careful of any produce you take across either direction - it will most likely be confiscated if the country of origin label is removed. We had a cut up apple and couldn't take it.
I have gotten to the point I don't like crossing the border either direction anymore
When I went up at Easter however I was asked to prove citizenship going INTO Canada. I didn't have my birth certificate or passport with me but they too accepted the green card.
Machka is right re reporting items of value at the repective customs office before leaving the country. I went to college here (the US) and would constantly transport items back and forth. I just had them fill the card out before leaving the country and I was more than free to bring it back in. (fill it out on the US side before going into Canada if valuables originated in the US)
Contact your senators if you don't want the more stringent rules of a passport required - all the Northern tier senators are trying to settle on a more reasonable solution.
I always laugh thinking about Joe Farmer transporting his tractor and cultivator to his Canadian field and being interrogated for 2 hours because he forgot his passport that morning and it is a trip he makes every other day all summer. Or my friend who runs cattle right against the border and if they break through the fence he can't go get them right away - must run home and get the passport. OOPs what about MAD COW disease ? ? ? - those naughty cows wandering off like that!
And on another sort of related note - when I took the trolley from San Diego to Tiajuana and walked in - there wasn't a customs agent anywhere. But I totally got searched and had book matches confiscated when I flew into Cancun - I guess Cancun has a lot more questionable characters entering than Tiajuana!
To make a long note longer be careful of any produce you take across either direction - it will most likely be confiscated if the country of origin label is removed. We had a cut up apple and couldn't take it.
I have gotten to the point I don't like crossing the border either direction anymore
04-29-06, 12:04 PM
#28
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I've been talking with the BC randonneurs who go back and forth into the US on many of their rides. Up till late last summer, they could ride back and forth with driver's license and birth certificate without too much difficulty, but late last summer they've started pushing for a passport and making it difficult for the riders if they didn't have one (as in getting them to sit in a room for an hour to "process" the other stuff). They've also started asking for proof of purchase/ownership for the bicycles, and for other things they carry.
who was asking for passports, US or Canada?
Its unfortunate that Customs is hassling people about bicycles and other gear - I suspect it is due to the high Canadian dollar, apparently cross border shopping is becoming popular again.
Were the randonneurs crossing the border being asked for proof of ownership for their bikes?
I doubt that American Customs is going to be that obsessed by cross border shopping. Everything is more expensive here, so why would Americans buy anything here?
If an American is coming from the US into Canada on holidays, I doubt that Customs would ask for proof of ownership of their bike and their iPod. On the other hand, you never know.
Has anybody else experienced this?
