BIRD TALK

In your summer 2023 response to the question posed by Leslie Bailey, you indicated that it has been made quite clear to the CSA by the USCBP Agency that short trips out of the U.S. (including visits home  for the holidays) should not be deducted from days spent in the U.S. for immigration purposes.

In the past two years, we have heard multiple reports from fellow snowbirds that USCBP officers at the Calgary airport have clearly indicated that the USCBP Agency no longer follows this policy. With the free exchange of travel data between Canadian and U.S. authorities, USCBP officers need simply look at their computer screens to see the exact number of actual days spent in the U.S. (i.e., they no longer have to do the math themselves).

I recall that many years ago, the CSA obtained a letter from the U.S. authorities advising that snowbirds returning home for fewer than 30 days were still required to count these days as time spent in the U.S. With the advent of information sharing and real-time computer systems, this would no longer seem to make any sense. Further, the repeated advice of these Calgary airport USCBP officers would seem to confirm that this policy is no longer being followed.

Can the CSA obtain an update on the current policy of the USCBP Agency on this matter?

James M. Thibault
Haliburton, ON

Ed.: Please do not take idle chatter about individual experiences as evidence that things have changed.
We often hear what we want to hear and that doesn’t always reflect the rules as they are written. Here is an excerpt from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website; today:

Visitor visas are nonimmigrant visas for persons who want to enter the United States temporarily for business (visa category B-1), for tourism (visa category B-2), or for a combination of both purposes (B-1/B-2).

During your visit to the United States, you may visit Canada or Mexico for up to 30 days and re-enter the United States, if you re-enter within the timeframe indicated on the Form I-94 that you received when you first entered.

For instance, if you arrived in the United States on July 10th with a B2 visitor visa, and on or after December 10th you decide you want to visit Canada or Mexico, you must keep in mind that the six-month period is up on January 10 and you will have to depart from the United States on that same day to avoid an “overstay” (unless you applied for an extension of stay).

Ed.: If you enter the United States with a B2 visitor visa for six months and return to Canada or visit Mexico during that six-month period for fewer than 30 days, the end date of your six-month period hasn’t changed! It is still based on six months from the date of your initial entry. Border guards may interpret or apply rules a little differently, allowing visitors a little grace from time to time. We are guiding you by the rules as they are written in order to avoid grief when heading south.