Procedure for crossing the land border from Canada to the USA for visa-exempt national?
Being in possession of a valid eTA for Canada and eligible for the US Visa Waiver Program, I plan to visit Canada, flying in and out. During my trip I may want to cross the Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls into the US and back.
I know I do not need ESTA to enter the US by this route, but would it somehow make the procedure quicker or smoother? Do I qualify for ESTA without any flight or cruise booking for the US?
The I-94W form has been scrapped. Does that mean that the fee payable at the border is also gone?
How is the exact procedure at the border crossing? Do you step out of the car and enter an office or do you get inspected in your vehicle? How do you make your customs declaration? How long time would it normally take to cross the border? Is the procedure similar when returning to Canada?
Best Answer
We have crossed the Canadian border many times in a car, with multiple people having passports from a European country with Visa waiver status. They flew in the US (having an ESTA), so this should be the exact situation that you describe.
In every instance, the Canadian border officers took our passports (handed through the driver's window), asked some question about visit duration, potential weapons, drugs, and alcohol, and spent maybe a minute offline with the passports. Then they handed them back, and that's it. No need to leave the car.
On the way back to the US, the questions are slightly different (no alcohol limit, etc.), but the process is the same; sometimes they wanted to look in the trunk, but never bothered to look inside any luggage (I assume they look for people hiding in the trunk).
This experience is from 2017 to 2019, on the Rainbow Bridge, on the land border south of Montréal, and in various small crossings from Maine to New Brunswick and Québec, overall maybe 12 crossings.
I don't think you need to be worried in any way, if your passport is ok, and you haven't overstayed or are wanted by the FBI.
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