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CSA TRAVEL INFORMATION GUIDE
CBP officer can decide that your personal 12-month period will be calculated from November 1 to
October 31. For another traveler the same CBP officer may determine their period is the calendar year
January to December. This is not a debateable issue with the CBP officer.
In any event, travelers should not seek to stay longer than six months on any one trip even if the trip
extends over January 1
st
.
The burden of proof that you are not an intended immigrant (plan to make the U.S. your primary resi-
dence) is always on you. Although there is no set period of time Canadians must wait to re-enter the
U.S. after the end of their stay, if it appears to the CBP Officer that you are spending more time overall
in the U.S. than in Canada, it is up to you to prove to the officer that you are not a de facto U.S. resident.
Besides possibly jeopardizing your Canadian provincial/territorial health care coverage, there are U.S.
federal income tax implications if you are physically present in the United States for 183 days or more
in any one calendar year.
Time to Allow Between Each Trip
A frequently asked question concerning the calculation of days permitted in the United States is,
“What happens to my time limit if I take a Caribbean cruise while in the U.S. or briefly return to Canada
at Christmas. Can I add those days onto the end of my originally-planned ‘go home’ date?”
While Canadian citizens are exempt from having to obtain a white or green I-94 Arrival/Departure
Record form when entering the United States, the answer may be found with regard to the instruc-
tions provided to individuals who are issued this form.
For the trip clock to stop and restart with a new“go home” date, a traveler may be required to be
absent from the United States for a minimum of 30 days between each trip. While you may not
technically be in the United States (or one of its possessions) during a seven or ten day Caribbean or
Alaskan cruise, by sailing and returning to a U.S. port for this mini-holiday, you may not be able to
add the seven or ten days onto the end of your original trip. The inspector may rule that your cruise
was not of sufficient duration.
If you travel to the United States in the fall, and temporarily return to Canada for one or two weeks for
Christmas or New Year’s celebrations, and then return to the U.S. to “continue” your original snowbird
winter months, you likewise may not be permitted to add this time onto the end of your original “go
home” date. While you may not have been physically in the United States for those days, your pre-
planned intention of returning to continue your winter months time may be considered by CBP that
you never actually intended to conclude your original full trip and take all of your belongings back to
Canada with you. If that is the ruling your original “go home” date still applies. Ultimately it is up to the
inspector at the border as to whether he/she counts periods of absence of less than 30 days such as a
trip home for Christmas. Some have suggested that such absences do not allow you to stay longer than
you would have if you had not taken the trip. Others give credit for that time outside the United States.
If you return to Canada in April or May, but know that you will be planning to return to the United
States briefly in the late spring or summer, it’s a good idea to ensure that a minimum of 30 days
lapses from your initial “go home” date to when you plan to travel again. By not making sure you
have clearly ended your winter snowbird trip, the CBP officer may not let you back into the United
States for this subsequent trip.It’s a good idea to keep an eye on your upcoming fall snowbird travel
dates south to allow for the duration of your summer trip. If it appears to the CBP Officer that your fall
travel date means you are now spending/intending to spend more time in the U.S. than in Canada in
a 12-month period you may be deemed to be an intended immigrant and denied entry to the United
States.