Few questions about Cdn visiting US

Hi, I was refused entry into the US back in early September because I was driving over the border from Canada to the US in my boyfriend's car (he's American) with a lot of stuff in the car. They told me I had "intention" to move to the US and that I needed a proper visa, though I was actually planning on visiting just a couple of weeks. A couple of days after that incident, I flew from Canada to the US, and they put me on a "conditional visit" and gave me an I-94 based on my return flight back to the US. After that trip, I made another trip mid-October to the US for ten days or so, and they did not put me on a conditional visit status and I received no I-94. Then in November, I flew back into the US again, and I have been visiting in the US since.

My questions are:
1. I worked under a J-1 visa this past summer until August. I will be working under a TN visa starting March, and I want to make sure that they do not give me a hard time about my visiting time in the US after my J-1 expired in August. As a Canadian, I know that I can visit the US without a visa for 180 days, but I am not sure how they calculate that. If the last time I crossed the border into the US was November, does that give me 180 days from that date? Or do they calculate the days cumulatively including my stay as J-1 status, regardless of the number of times I have left the US to come back into Canada?

2. When I was entering the US in early November (the last time I crossed the border), I had told them I was returning after a week, but I have not returned since. I will be going back to Canada before I come back down on a TN visa in March. Will this be a problem?

3. If I did not receive an I-94 and a "conditional visit" status this most recent time that I crossed the border, is there any way that American officials will know the number of days that I stayed in the US? If, for instance, I return to Canada by land, will they somehow get a record of my border crossing back into Canada?

4. Since being turned away at the border in September, I know that I have been flagged, and I have been detained at the border every time I flew. If this current visit to the US starting November does end within 180 days and I provide some documentation of that, will they give me a hard time just because they have been suspicious of me before?

5. Does my record as a Canadian visiting the US have any effect on an application for a green card in the near or far future? For instance, does being turned away at the US border now make me less likely to succeed in getting a green card in the future?

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your help! And Happy New Year!

1. If you are granted TN, you have no day restrictions anymore.
2. Unless you were given an I-94 in B2 status with a departure date, you can stay, although getting into the habit of lying at the border is unwise.
3. Yes, they track days.
4. probably, but not more than you will always get. Your TN will not be conditional.
5. No impact.

I am an American citizen and my girlfriend is Canadian. I moved to Toronto to be with her 1-1/2 years ago and obtained a temporary work permit for 1 year at an Architecture firm under the NAFTA agreement. However, I faced much difficulty and had to accept an entry-level position with a huge pay cut. I have since returned to the states to earn a decent salary while obtaining my license, in hopes that this will give me a better chance for decent employment when I return to Canada.

My girlfriend would like to stay with me in the states during this process, which could take 2-3 years. With her savings and my support she will not need to work while in the states. She has no desire to obtain residency in the states. She has been coming back and forth on visits that now add up to 3 months cumulatively in the states. We are worried that after 6 months she will be denied entry.

Is there any relatively simple and inexpensive way she can visit as a tourist for an extended but limited period of 2-3 years?
We have considered finding an unpaid internship at a non-profit organization that would get her a work visa, because non-profits are exempt from the fee and potentially more willing. The option of attending school full-time here is too expensive.

I had a similar question about visiting for longer than the 6 months allowed. I just graduated from school and I would like to take a year off to travel before I go back and get my Masters. I have sufficient funds to travel for a year and will be able to prove that, but I dont own a home in Canada. I just dont see why they would have an issue with me spending money travelling in the US when its benefitting their economy. What I was hoping to do is go to US in Jun'11 and stay until Sep then come back for a week to write my last exam and then go back for another 9 months. I was planning on using Florida as an easy hub to travel to all the Caribbean islands, but now that I read that its 6 months max in 12 consecutive months I dont know.
Has anyone tried this option:
Fly into the US, stay for 6 months, fly back to a border city in the US (Seattle for me) and driving back to Canada. As a Canadian could we not just show our citizenship at the border on coming back to Canada and therefore not receive any stamps on our passport? That way we could fly back into the US without raising too much suspicion since they wont be able to tell that we have been in US for 6 months already.

Its not 6 months in 12 months, its 6 months per entry.

That said, your problem is not the length of time you will spend in US per visit (remember, each time you leave restarts the clock), its the fact that you will have a tough time proving you have a foreign home. (owning is not important, having one is)

Each time you enter US with no definite intention or reason to leave, the scrutiny will increase until you will eventuallly be denied -- perahps at a moment that would be most inconvenient.

Visitor status requires a full-fledged foreign residence maintained throughout the period of the visit.

There is sufficient experience on this board to know that CIS is fully aware of how long and how much time you are spending in/out of US.

Isn't an intention of travelling enough. What other definite intention would I need to give them? And my reason to leave is that I'm enrolling in a Master Degree (altough its via correspondance so I'll techinically be studying while in US).
Do they still have a way of tracking us Canuckers when we enter through land border and just flash our passports? I'm not sure if this goes into some tracking system anyways without any stamps and maybe they track this way??? Anyone know.
As far as determining CDN residency I'll have CDN bank accounts, drivers license, and my boyfriends family owns a house with multiple suites so I'm sure I can get a lease drawn up.

-- Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:49 pm --

Just to clarify my last point I do actually live at my boyfriend's house, but i pay rent there with no lease. I'm sure this is more difficult to prove residency at the border than a lease contract so if it makes things more "firm" I can have a lease drawn up.

Your travel plans are helpful, both because they show "purpose" as well as resetting your clock each time.

THE problem is residence. Firm that up as you say, and you will have no problems for the first few months.

And yes, they know where you crosss at all times.

That clarifies thing a bit, thanks. I guess what I'm worried about is that I'll have been in Florida for like 6 months and then hop over to visit Bahamas or something and they wont want to let me back into Florida. Normally I wouldnt be too worried except I'm taking my kitten with me to Florida and then I'll just leave her there along with most of my stuff when I go island hopping. I can't even imagine what would happen if they would deny me entry back in and I can't get her out of there.

As I said, you will at some point be denied, and it will be most inconvenient.

Thank you agnelson that was very helpful. My Canadian partner has been in the States for 3 months up til now with 3 week-long trips home to Canada during that period. She plans to stay in the States, visiting me and her brother who is a citizen, with intermittent trips home to Canada. We assume that after about a year of such travel, with more time spent in the States than in Canada, the border agents would become suspicious of intent to become a permanent resident. She has no intention of permanent residency and we want to make sure she doesn't do anything illegal. Is it possible to maintain visitor status for 2-3 years by making week-long trips home every couple of months and carrying sufficient proof of a permanent residence in Canada?

If not, she may attempt to obtain an F-1 visa as a student for the September 2011 school year. In order to obtain an H-1B work visa it appears you need a Bachelor's degree or other certification, which she does not have. Would a Nexus card be of help in this situation?