Need advice! Entering the states with one way ticket.

[mitchski]

A friend and I are planning on working the ski season in Canada but we’re hoping to fly into the USA and spend a few weeks there and buy a ticket to Canada whilst in the US. We are travelling on Australian passports. Will having a one way ticket we an issue entering the US? Should we organise a ticket to Canada before landing? We were thinking about driving up from LA to Vancouver as another option. Is this allowed instead of a booked flight?

 

[mulchbrain]

It will be a bit of a pain without the ticket . If you want to drive up through the border you might want to have an address , name and number of someone your going to meet up with in Canada . They are super strict .

Oh yea , your visa stuff for Canada will help too

**This post was edited on Jun 13th 2018 at 4:39:59am

 

[OregonDead]

^ I have never heard of them being strict entering Canada. It has been a couple of years since I've gone so maybe things have changed but I'm pretty sure you just need so smile and be polite and they have to let you in. It's like the law of Canadian hospitality. One time my buddies drove up in an old van and the van died going through customs. They pushed the van through and got in no problem. They ended up dropping some grass right in front of the customs guys and they got laughed at and told next time to buy it in Canada. Last time I drove in from NY state I didn't have a passport just my Oregon drivers license and when I got to customs they just laughed and said it was too late because customs was like 15 miles into Canada so I was already in. They were a little worried that I'd get hassled trying to go back to the US but they told me just to have fun in Canada and not worry about it because there was nothing else I could do.

 

[mulchbrain]

^ I have never heard of them being strict entering Canada. It has been a couple of years since I've gone so maybe things have changed but I'm pretty sure you just need so smile and be polite and they have to let you in. It's like the law of Canadian hospitality. One time my buddies drove up in an old van and the van died going through customs. They pushed the van through and got in no problem. They ended up dropping some grass right in front of the customs guys and they got laughed at and told next time to buy it in Canada. Last time I drove in from NY state I didn't have a passport just my Oregon drivers license and when I got to customs they just laughed and said it was too late because customs was like 15 miles into Canada so I was already in. They were a little worried that I'd get hassled trying to go back to the US but they told me just to have fun in Canada and not worry about it because there was nothing else I could do.

Your completely right , ive worded my answer poorly. The Canadian is no problem (the last time I went through they opened the door on our van and beer cans fell out and the patrol put them back in for us and waved us through) .

What I meant is you will want to have an address , name and number of someone your going to meet up with in Canada to show at immigration in the US. Just to prove you are leaving the country , thats why the visa will help

 

[theabortionator]

One way tickets can be tough some places. I don't know with the states but I feel things are fairly strict. Sometimes just being able to pull up a banking app to show proof of funds will get you in. Some places and visas require RT ticket.

Good luck regardless, but def keep trying to figure it out before. I had to book a random flight to Aus to get into NZ once. Then after I got ok'ed they listened to me about my visa and were like oh yeah, he doesn't need one, so I had to cancel it. I just had no fucking idea when I was coming back and didn't wanna grab an RT. Now have the time RT's are cheaper or about the same, so I'll buy them even if I end up skipping the return flight.

Are you flying home from Canada? You could probably show them that ticket as your return since it's heading from North America to your home country. I don't know much about the visas here but did it say anything when you looked those up about the requirements?

 

[OregonDead]

Your completely right , ive worded my answer poorly. The Canadian is no problem (the last time I went through they opened the door on our van and beer cans fell out and the patrol put them back in for us and waved us through) .

What I meant is you will want to have an address , name and number of someone your going to meet up with in Canada to show at immigration in the US. Just to prove you are leaving the country , thats why the visa will help

Yes getting back in to the USA was always a longer process for me. Coming back after the passport is required rule without a passport they asked us like 20 questions about our home states and really scrutinized our drivers licenses and duty free bags. Made us pretty nervous.

 

[kingsskier]

If you’re coming to the USA with a vacation visa then I would suggest getting the ticket to Canada prior to your arrival. The main thing that you will need to prove to customs officials is that you don’t plan on staying in the States. It’ll probably be easier for you considering you’re coming from a non Latin country but still a chance they could get pissy over a one way flight.

The last statement here is probably key. You are coming from Australia not a country known to seek illegal residency in the US. So, you may have a better shot. But, like most people stated, American immigration and customs are dicks and you should line everything up ahead of time. Also, Id line up a job in Canada before heading out. You may find it difficult if you try to do it on the fly there. Also, crossing into Canada looking for work is going to be harder to do. There is a small chance they will turn you back and that also may be on the minds of the US agents knowing you might get stuck. Line up a job and you will have no issues.

**This post was edited on Jun 15th 2018 at 8:19:41am

 

[eheeth]

I mean it's probably be better to be able to show your intentions as other people have said, but surely on Australian passports you shouldn't get too much trouble... I mean I wouldn't leave here to go there to try get a job...

 

[WoFIowz]

If you’re coming to the USA with a vacation visa then I would suggest getting the ticket to Canada prior to your arrival. The main thing that you will need to prove to customs officials is that you don’t plan on staying in the States. It’ll probably be easier for you considering you’re coming from a non Latin country but still a chance they could get pissy over a one way flight.

This. And you'll have ski gear too I assume so that lends even more credibility towards you and that you're not here to cause trouble.

US Airport customs guys are intimidating in my experiences. They scare me and I live here haha