Re-Entry After a 10 Year Ban

**NSI2011** · 12-06-2011, 09:50 AM

Hello:

First of, apologies if a similar post has already been posted. I searched and couldnt find something similar.. here is my question.

We voluntarily left the US in 2001 after a departure notice was given to us (after a denied political asylum case). We left well before the departure date and immigrated to Canada and are proud Canadian citizens now. We traveled across the border quite often to visit family; one odd time, we were questioned and given a lot of hassle by the officers. Either he didnt understand our prior situation correctly or he didnt care, and eventually, he said he was going to ban us for 10 years. Keep in mind.. we had committed no legal crime here. At any rate, we accepted our fate and didnt travel to the US anymore.

At one point about 2-3 years later we had to travel to the US for a dire family emergency and applied for a humanitarian visa and were admitted for a 10 day stay. It is now 2011, and we want to find if the 10 year ban is over (actually, we're not even sure if it was applied in the first place or just threatened to us)? We are thinking of just going to a land POE and seeing what happens. Are there any suggestions or tips for this? Is there a VISA we should be applying for even though we are Canadian citizens?

Also, would it differ if we flew to the US. Does the customs at the airport offer the same services / info about VISAs?

Thank you for your advice.

**LawResearcherMissy** · 12-06-2011, 01:57 PM

A ten year ban is not something that border agents can hand out at will, it is applied in very specific circumstances.

As Canadian citizens, visas are only required under some circumstances. For a simple vacation, no visa is required.

**NSI2011** · 12-06-2011, 03:08 PM

Quoting LawResearcherMissy

A ten year ban is not something that border agents can hand out at will, it is applied in very specific circumstances.

As Canadian citizens, visas are only required under some circumstances. For a simple vacation, no visa is required.

Thanks... I agree with you that they cannot hand out bans at will; however, this is the situation that happened (shortly after the 9/11). Obviously, border agents use thier discretion and in this case, he felt that we were trying to enter the US unlawfully (even though our records show we had voluntarily departed)... mind you, this is about 5-6 hours we spent at the POE... there were multiple agents dealing with us and one of them felt we were okay, while others did not. If we wanted to, we could probably take this case to court and have it cleared, but the funds to do that are not available to us. What happened is what happened... we couldnt change that... border agents have their discretion.

At any rate - I am searching for help next steps - now that the ten years is up, do we just show up and see what agent we get? Or is there another VISA we should be getting before heading to the entry gate? Also, can we do this at one of the major airports here or does it have to be at the physical border (By car)?

**T53147** · 12-07-2011, 12:19 PM

Visas are obtained at the consulate not the border. Given the uncertainty of the situation, a consultation with a US immigration attorney would be a good investment.He/she should be able to sort it out fairly easily and keep you from creating another long term problem for your future entries. If you had assistance with your earlier petitions and that firm is still in existence, that would be a good resource to use.