Worst US/Canadian border crossing

From Niagara Falls into Canada, the border agent asked if I had any firearms, I replied I did, at home, that prompted a search of our motorhome, a 45 minute delay. Ironically, they never searched my toad. Lesson learned, if they ask if you have anything, they mean "with you", so my answer should have been NO.

suprz wrote:
Post your worst border crossing experiences. Just looking for tips etc for a smooth crossing

Nice try.
All this will do is raise a stink!

Just recently crossed into Canada at the Detroit tunnel. No issue at all. The border agent asked if we had an weapons, alcohol products, or food products. I truthfully answered that we had no weapons or alcohol products and only a small quantity of commercially produced snack type foods for our trip. He verified everyone in the van matched their picture on their passport and away we went. All of about 30 seconds. Pretty much the same experience coming back into the US at a crossing north of Detroit.

In my experience, simply answer the questions asked as directly, respectfully, and succinctly as possible. Don't offer any commentary or smart comments and you will be fine. We cautioned our kids to not utter a word unless asked a direct question by the border agent (they tend to offer up little "nuggets of wisdom" sometimes).

Buffalo, NY into Canada. We were headed from New England to Petosky, MI so decided to save some time and go over Lake Erie. They asked us how long we were going to be in Canada and we said a couple of hours since we would be leaving that day at Sarnia.

They spent 45 minutes going through our motorhome then asked if they could go through the truck we were towing. I don't know hoe they spent 15 minutes going through the truck.

In the end we saved very little time and should have stayed in the states and gone under Erie.

Personally I've never had a problem. Was ask to pull around to the inspection lot once time (Car) took about 1 mintue to release me.

I read of a woman who crossed from CA to USA. she was speaking spanish to her friend.. (She is a US citizen born and raised in the USA) that did not go well.

I've been through a few times. Worst was coming back home to the States.

Said I had vegetables. These were from my mother's garden in the USA, came to Canada, didn't get eaten while in Canada, so they were coming back with me.

Full agricultural inspection and had my contraband tomatoes confiscated. Ha ha ha

Can't really call it the worst but it was puzzling. It was crossing at Sarnia from the US crossing to Canada. We were asked to pull to the side and they searched everywhere inside the coach and the toad. They even opened all the zippers on our golf bags in the trunk of our car. All the cabinets in the motorhome, under the cushions, literally everywhere they could think of. The puzzling part was they never once opened the outside storage bays......

Why people continue to make mountains out of molehills I will never understand. Border crossings are easy-answer the questions truthfully, don't act nervous and don't try to get contraband across the border. It's truly a no-brainer. Yes, you may get the agent who is in a foul mood or the one trying to prove himself but there's nothing you can do to prepare for that. Just relax and keep in mind they have a job to do.

If it is bright sunny day and you are wearing sunglasses, take them off before you see the official. They stare into your eyes to look for signs of deception. You might see what google has to say About deceptive eye movements.

Our "worst" crossing out of over a hundred was a 20 minute delay for a secondary inspection going into Canada via the Lewiston-Queenston bridge. The officers were very polite while checking our coach, and even directed my wife to a spot where she could walk our dog. As said, they never looked in the storage bins, and even though they asked me to unlock it, never looked in the toad. When the officer was done inspecting inside the coach, I asked him why we were selected for the secondary, and he said it was just a routine random selection. He told me if any adverse information had popped up on the computer, it would have been a much more thorough process. We've had longer delays in traffic waiting to cross than the inspection took.