Question on US & Canada Entry For UK Citizen

[Comrade J]

Ok so I'm a little confused and wondered if anyone could help me or point me in the right direction.

Around August/September time I want to go to Canada for like 3 months, and from there I wanna go into the US for about the same time and then fly back to the UK. Britain is part of the visa waiver scheme so I don't need a visa for the US per se, I just have to get this kinda checkup thing they do which is about £15.

However, I wondered what the practicalities are for entry to Canada and the US. Can I enter Canada with a return flight to Britain booked from the US? And as I am not sure on the exact date I will enter the US, is it possible to start your 3 months of permitted stay from the moment you arrive? And lastly, can I enter the US with an open-ended departure flight to Britain, or do they want a definite date (as I am not sure on what date I will return?)

I'm not sure why I think anybody here will know the answers, but this Non-Poli forum seems to have been quite helpful for others in the past so it's worth a shot I guess. I've trawled through pages on the Canadian and US immigrant/tourist sites and they're immensely difficult to navigate and find what you need. Any help, ideas etc. would be most appreciated.

Sorry this is a boring thread. ;)

[jake williams]

Some of that stuff is fairly technical (and I'm not totally sure what the rules are because they keep changing). I think the best answer is that you'll probably be allowed to do those things, but you might get hastle, especially if they don't think you look sufficiently WASPy.

Any chance you have a friend who works for an embassy of some sort?

[praxis1966]

Yeah, I gave my immigration lawyer the week off so I couldn't say.;)

On the other hand, this (http://travel.state.gov/visa/) should answer a lot of your questions. It's the official State Department [the bureaucracy that handles these things] travel website, and if it doesn't it ought to have some contact info where you can e-mail or call somebody who can answer you.

If I had to venture a guess, though, you may be in a bit of a sticky wicket, as you guys like to say, if you plan on driving into the US. I don't know how it affects folks from other countries, but I do know the federal government recently upped the documents required of US citizens crossing the border back into the country by land.

At the end of the day, though, you're a Brit. The US government tends to be pretty soft on the requirements you guys have to meet to come here and I would guess you shouldn't have too much trouble from Canada either. They are a commonwealth, after all.

EDIT: I've only just thought of this. I hope you're not a CP member of any kind, at least for the purposes of this discussion. If the State Department does tell you that you need a visa, you're pretty much screwed if you are.