Entry into the US
 

Hi
We are embarking on the pan America highway adventure in June this year. I am getting a little confused about entry into the US.

Our Journey May start in New York (Flying in from the UK). We don’t need visa but we must have a return ticket.

Now, we intend to end our trip in Buenos Aires in Argentina, so I will not be using the return ticket.

My point is, If I enter the US and tell immigration I will use the return ticket, which I obviously will not do, Will this hinder our progress into Canada and more importantly back into the US after visiting Canada or our exit into Mexico

Or do I go and get a B2 tourist visa

Thanks

B

if you fly to canada first maybe toronto then you can get your visa waiver at the airport just for canada, hand this back on crossing into the usa by road and you cab get your 3 month visa from this.

Doing this makes it easier to then leave the country by road and just hand your documents back in at the border, you can state where you are headed so records can also be kept.

Flying to canada also seems to be easier than new york now and much cheaper less hassle. Check out HC Travel they seem clued up on the phone and make it very easy when i spoke to them


good luck!

I didn't know you needed a return flight to the US.
 

I am also planning on riding south from either the US or Mexico. Was thinking of flying myself and my bike into the US because I've heard it's easier to get it through customs and on the road in the US rather than Mexico. The quotes I've had for shipping the bike from the UK to either country are fairly similar. I guess it's the hidden costs and hassles once it lands that I'm worried about.

Any guidance on whether landing in Mexico or the US is easier and cheaper would be much appreciated too!

Also, I didn't know I needed to buy a return flight to the US though. Please can someone confirm whether this is true or not.

You need a local address
or have a it to you on the road. Many have done this.

entering USA
 

Immediately ,right now, tout de suite , pronto check out this website
https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov
This will give you all the information you need and you can fill out the request for approval for travel online.
This is a new regulation from the USA. You Must have an approval number a minimum of 72 hours BEFORE you show up at the border or at the airport of arrival in the USA.
If you come via Canada you still need to get this done before showing up at the border . If all is in order you get to answer all the same questions again and you will get an I-94 card which is in lieu of a visa and you will be goood for staying in the USA 90 days.
Applying online is easy enough and the approval appears right away.So would a denial - in which case you better talk to the US consulate in England before even setting out

Hi Guys, things must have changed since Sep. '08. I flew to Halifax from the UK on a single ticket and picked up my moto which came to Halifax from Southampton on a WW Ro-Ro. Rode round the Maritimes for a month then crossed into Maine from New Brunswick, took 30mins and US6.00 for the visa waiver card. Did a Canada-US-Mexico a year after 9/11 same thing at the BC/Washington border and in '04 same system but crossed Alberta/Montana (I think) each time no problem. Ride safe.

Thanks
 

Thanks All

Great advice from everyone. looks like Vancover then north. will cross into US via road (after doing the online thing)

Stay safe everyone

And Thanks again

Brian

How far North?
 

Brian

Sue and I are flying the bike into Anchorage in early June, travelling up to Prudhoe bay and then south to Buenos Aires. We will be using the visa waiver programme and buying return tickets (cheaper than one way) my question is if you are flying into Vancouver, how far north are you going and how long have you given yourself to do Alaska and the lower 48?

Graham and Sue

Ride Safe, as in life Stay Upright!

Our plans....
 

Hi Graham and Sue

The details of the trip are still forming. But it looks like we are travelling into Vancouver on June 8th or 9th. We are staying with a friend for a few days then heading north. The time frames after that are a little.... well open. Other than the 90 days we have from entering Alaska to leaving via Mexico the rest is “as it happens”. We have taken at least one year off work but expect to take anywhere between 8 to 12 months.

What planning we have done is based around “stuff” and places we want to see and do, whilst going from the top to the bottom.

Alaska! Everyone goes to Prudhoe bay and we are no exception, It looks like we may be in the same neck of the woods at around the same time, It would be interesting to see how your plans are coming along and you never know might even get to meet up.

Ours is a low budget affair, my biggest frustration is how little financial data is out there, so for me it’s all guessing and camping where ever we can and taking an old’ish bike and we either manage it or come home when the dosh runs out.

This is our first Major trip, we have “done” Europe on several occasions but this is a different kettle of fish altogether.
Would be great to stay in touch and compare notes and you never know share a cold beer in a roadside bar.

Contact details brian@robinson-net.co.uk
URL www.1a-2j.co.uk (currently under construction but getting there)


keep safe
Brian and Sandra

I can give some "in the ball park" estimates

singaporean and malaysian into USA
 

guys... we need much advise and help.

im a singaporean (under visa weaver program) and my wife if from Malaysia. she did applied the usa visa when we were in singapore 1 yr ago but rejected... my wife dont speak good english so she has problem talking to the officer to convince them.

now we are in argentina. riding up to alaska. we plan to do the usa visa in santiago. i will want to apply for a visa to get more time to visit usa and secondly, to accompany my wife for the application.

i check their web, it says:

1) a visa does not mean an entry to the country. it depend on how we convince the officer in charge at the border. that officer may reject our entry even we are at the border and we have a valid visa.

2)we are making the visa in chile. for non chile resident it is advised to apply the visa from the country of their origin. that means we have to fly back to singapore/malaysia to apply??

we are worried. we wasted US$100 when we apply the visa in singapore.

our strong point of document is about our bank account (s$30) and property asset (s$300k) and us$travelers cheque of US$7k. we do not have any air return ticket. we intent to go new york and book a sea freighter ticket from usa to australia.

we also have fellow biker friend is a usa resident.

how can i apply smoothly? we really want ot complete our RTW journey and we heard that the north americans are really friendly and hospitable, unlike the impression we get from hollywood movie and news...

See Sjoerd Bakker post on this thread (5th one in) to see if provisional probs before you attempt again. I'm pretty sure if you've been refused entry previously, it'll be on record and the bureaucratic barriers will be that much harder to overcome. I found the Americans in general to be very pleasant, but the Government administration is at times not-so if anything is amiss... Good luck!

A Swiss friend shipped his ike into Mex City last year. It took 3 days to get it out of customs but a day of that was wasted because we didn't know what we were doing. With a little local help, from me, you should be able to do it in 2 days. It was complicated but not expensive. I anyone is interested in doing it send me a PM.

usa visa
 

by now i should have all the confident paperwork with me. i just visited the panama embassy today. i told them im entering panama by boat from columbia and traveling on motorbike to the next country in the north. they insist me having a in-bound and a out-bound confirmation ticket. i told them the boat ride is only one way but they insisted.

also for usa visa, it seems that they only reconized a 'out' air ticket to proof that we are exiting their country, what about us, motorcycle travelers?

what is worst, they dont issue multiple entry. from mexico, my plan is to go to alaska and come back to usa to ship the bike to australia. that means from now i have to apply the visa 3 times!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i need help: does anyone know of any airline that allow me to reserve a flight without paying. i will print out the reservation and show to the embassy. it will be very very useful for my visa application.

thank you

we prepared about 14 pages of strong supporting documents, including a confirm ticket from LA-sydney. guess what. that officer in the embassy didnt see them. the only document/paper that we wanted to see was our newspaper interview we had when we were in brazil.

we got the visas! its a multiple entry that last for 1 year.

so friendly in chile. unlike in singapore, the officer treated my wife like a criminal.

not to be too happy, it all depent on the officer at the border to allow us to go in.