(If you have not already done so, first read the January 4, 2010 entry.)
The woman who questioned me at the U.S. border was actually pleasant. What a big surprise that was! No questions whatsoever about laptops, storage devices, or if I had been near any small children. Instead, just the usual questions about where had I been and what was I bringing back with me. Then:
OFFICER: “How much money are you carrying?
ME: “Between four and five thousand dollars.”
OFFICER: “Why so much?”
ME: “ I was going to make a deposit in Port Alberni but I missed seeing the bank when I came thorough. It wasn’t all that urgent anyway and I was in a hurry to catch the noon ferry at Duke Point so I didn’t turn back.”
OFFICER: “Why do you have a bank account in Canada?”
ME: “I opened it years back, when I was having some printing done with Friesens in Manitoba. And by the way,” I said with a smile, while drawing my hand across my throat, “there’s no money to be made in self-publishing!”
The kind lady smiled and waved me on through.
Three comments about carrying cash into Canada:1. It appears to be permissible to carry a substantial amount of cash, as long as the value is
under $10,000 Canadian.2. Tell the truth about which bank you will be visiting—
specific details will give the officer confidence that what you say is true.
3. Decide beforehand how to explain why you have such an account. This may be because you often vacation in Canada, or because you think Obama is on such a wild spending spree that you expect the American dollar to fall below par with the Canadian dollar within the next year or two.
But meanwhile, what about the fact that the Canadians went through my laptops? Did they keep copies of my files? If I ever return to Canada, will they know I’ve been there before? If I use the same pickup, will that show up as having been in Canada before?
I posed those questions, and more, to a good friend who works with US Customs and Immigration at a border crossing in Minnesota. If you ever wondered what happens when you pull up at the border and hand over your passport, be sure to read next Monday’s blog:
Canadian borders crossings (Part III). Your questions answered!Labels: Canadian bank accounts, Canadian border crossings, Canadian border questions, carrying cash into Canada
Privacy blog post by JJ Luna at 12:01 AM
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