Overstay - How do they know?

Hi. A friend of mine (really, she's a friend and it's not me) is a Canadian citizen and has been in the USA as a visitor for just over a year. She hasn't worked at all and has just been traveling and visiting friends and family. She recently got offered a job and needs to get a TN visa so she needs to go back to Canada to apply for it at the border. We know she's technically broken the law by being here for so long (she says they never told her she had a limit when she entered) even though she hasn't worked or done anything else illegal. Her plan is to fly up to Toronto, spend the night and fly back to the USA - stopping at the immigration to apply for a TN (sounds pretty standard from what I've read here).

So, my question is this: how would the US immigration people know that she was in the USA for so long and "overstayed"? The US doesn't have a passport check when you leave the country and she was never issued a I94 when she entered. For all they know, she was only here a week.

I look forward to hearing what people have to say. Also, I'd appreciate as much detail as possible and not "they just know" as an answer.

Thanks!

They likely know when she last entered US. Since they have no record as to when she left, they will assume that she only left a week before. They will ask her, and then she can either lie (their training is in detecting lies) and they will ask more questions, or she will tell the truth (and risk denial of entry).

Pretty nervre-wracking, eh?

Some like to live on the edge.

please tell your friend to be careful.

i'm not sure what the border people know. But I just stayed in the states for little over a year. I returned to canada and then tried to get back into the states 3 weeks later. They knew my date of entry AND departure. Since I overstayed 180 days, I now have a 3 year bar. Getting denied entry is one thing, but getting banned for 3 years is another ball park.

I've heard that one should depart thru the states if they overstayed...but i'm not sure about those details.

i would recommend talking to a immigration lawyer.

please tell your friend to be careful.

i'm not sure what the border people know. But I just stayed in the states for little over a year. I returned to canada and then tried to get back into the states 3 weeks later. They knew my date of entry AND departure. Since I overstayed 180 days, I now have a 3 year bar. Getting denied entry is one thing, but getting banned for 3 years is another ball park.

I've heard that one should depart thru the states if they overstayed...but i'm not sure about those details.

i would recommend talking to a immigration lawyer.

Wow, scary stuff! A couple of questions:

1 - What do you mean by "depart thru the states if they overstayed"? How else could they depart? What was your situation exactly?

2 - Where did you enter Canada and attempt to re-enter the states?

Thanks!

sorry about the confusion. It was a typo.

1. I meant to say that I heard, one should leave thru mexico and then fly to canada from mexico.
As I said, I have no other details about this situation.

2. I entered Canada from San Fran to Toronto and I attempted to enter the states thru CBP in Toronto airport. They pulled up all of my history on my current passport. They knew all of the entries and departures I had TO and FROM the US.

Feel free to ask anymore questions....i would not want this to happened to anyone else.

Thanks for the info! I think I understand how this all works now, including the "Mexico loophole". I don't really want to post it here because I don't trust who is reading, but I am going to send you a PM and will try to exchange email address so we can chat in private. Hopefully that's cool with you, if not I understand!

please tell your friend to be careful.

i'm not sure what the border people know. But I just stayed in the states for little over a year. I returned to canada and then tried to get back into the states 3 weeks later. They knew my date of entry AND departure. Since I overstayed 180 days, I now have a 3 year bar. Getting denied entry is one thing, but getting banned for 3 years is another ball park.

I've heard that one should depart thru the states if they overstayed...but i'm not sure about those details.

i would recommend talking to a immigration lawyer.

Hi, I also know "some canuck" in the US for about now 8 months... He DOES NOT have an entry stamp in his passport. When he entered back in November 2009, they didn't stamp the passport at US immigration.

My question is, How would they know when "this canuck" came in to the US?

How do you think they knew your entry and departure dates? Did you have stamps in your passport? Maybe through airline companies?

Because normally, leaving a country, no one checks your passport when you're leaving.

Did the Canadian authorities stamp you back in?

Am asking all these questions because obviously my friend wants to go back to Canada and come back to the US shortly after, just like you did...

Please help if you can.

-- Thu Jul 08, 2010 4:46 pm --

Thanks for the info! I think I understand how this all works now, including the "Mexico loophole". I don't really want to post it here because I don't trust who is reading, but I am going to send you a PM and will try to exchange email address so we can chat in private. Hopefully that's cool with you, if not I understand!

Hey Balboa and Otherside, I just came on this site...

From travelling extensively throughout the world, I know that when leaving EU or UK, they don't check the passport. You just leave. It is when entering Canada that they may stamp you in.

Then US authorities would know when you left from that.

Also, with the "Mexico loophole", wouldn't it be the same? Meaning, authorities could see when you entered Mexico, therefore infer when exactly when you left the US... all the same.

Big problem.

I don't know when you break the law if immigration lawyer would be able to do anything for you, except take a lot of money...

Or can illegal canucks be smuggled out to Mexico at the back of trucks?

I'm asking a related question on behalf of a friend (and really, it's a friend and not me). He went over to the US from Canada about a year and a half ago at a land crossing (before passports were mandatory). He's been there ever since. He's on his way back to Canada to visit family etc, and then plans to go back to the US. So, he's overstayed the standard B2 visitor "visa" by about a year.

My question is: Do you think there will be issues when he re-enters the US? Will the US border patrol have a record of his last entry to the US (even though it was at a land crossing before passports were mandatory)? How do they know? Can they ban him or simply refuse entry?

Thanks for any help you can provide,

Deleted

Don't think the "stamps" much matter, as usually when you cross with a passport they SWIPE it, so ur info pops up onto their screen! And probably varies with POE officers, but inthe past when you crossed without a passport, they would just type your info (name) into the computer.