Canada requirement’s on an Alaska cruise question.

[Aquahound]

16 minutes ago, d9704011 said:

I don't agree with that; I'd say it is more a matter of 'alleged to have committed' but I won't pursue this one as I believe the kernel of the issue is being charged with the offence and until it's dismissed (if that happens, of course) the person may be inadmissible.

 

Here's how it works.  Cruz actually nailed it.  USA and Canada share the U.S. DOJ's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.  When a person is arrested, an entry is made into NCIC of the arrest along with the charges. It is upon arrest that a person is alleged to have committed an offense, because an arrest would not occur without probable cause.  The minute it is entered, it will be detectable by both US and Canadian agents at the border.  Updates are entered upon formal charging by the court and with adjudication, but it all begins with that initial arrest.....in other words, when the offense was committed.  

 

Entries might be delayed if a written notice to appear is issued rather than a physical arrest.  However, that is very rare in DUIs, and not allowable on felonies.    

Edited August 26 by Aquahound

[Son of a son of a ...]

9 minutes ago, Aquahound said:

 

Here's how it works.  Cruz actually nailed it.  USA and Canada share the U.S. DOJ's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.  When a person is arrested, an entry is made into NCIC of the arrest along with the charges. It is upon arrest that a person is alleged to have committed an offense, because an arrest would not occur without probable cause.  The minute it is entered, it will be detectable by both US and Canadian agents at the border.  Updates are entered upon formal charging by the court and with adjudication, but it all begins with that initial arrest.....in other words, when the offense was committed.  

 

Entries might be delayed if a written notice to appear is issued rather than a physical arrest.  However, that is very rare in DUIs, and not allowable on felonies.    

I disagree with the accuracy of the above statement.  An ungraded misdemeanor for a .08 BAC DUI not involving personal injury or proper damage is not a “serious misdemeanor” for purposes of reporting to NCIC.  With that, I have said what I know.  Good night.

 

[Cruzaholic41]

2 minutes ago, Son of a son of a ... said:

  With that, I have said what I know.  Good night.

 

But you’re still wrong and it does not help anyone when you post and then repeat false info. People need to know that they may be denied entry to Canada with only a DUI arrest and not yet having been convicted. 
 

Good night. 

[vermonter16]

On 8/26/2024 at 8:38 PM, Cruzaholic41 said:

But you’re still wrong and it does not help anyone when you post and then repeat false info. People need to know that they may be denied entry to Canada with only a DUI arrest and not yet having been convicted. 
 

Good night. 

FACTS!!!  

[hawk/hornfan]

My experience only. In 2010 I was arrested for public intox, charges later dismissed. On an New England/Canada cruise in 2019  our 1st stop in Canada, can't remember the port, that at 7:00 am I had to appear for an interview with an officer of the Border Patrol. He grilled me for 15 mins about that arrest over 9 years prior. I was allowed entry but it was not a fun experience. Next year we will fly from YVR after a13 day cruise tour of Alaska. Will see how it goes. lol

[sprout76]

Has anyone ever been denied boarding  in Seattle for a DUI from almost 20 years ago?  I understand that if you wish to enter Canada, the border patrol agent is the one that can deem if you are rehabilitated and allow entry.  We are planning on staying on the ship in BC, but I understand that you are technically in Canada just by docking.  

 

We looked at the paperwork to try to get permission ahead of time and it is very extensive.  I'm curious if anyone knows of anyone who has been denied boarding in Seattle.  

[Ferry_Watcher]

20 hours ago, sprout76 said:

I'm curious if anyone knows of anyone who has been denied boarding in Seattle.  

 

I work at Pier 91 in Seattle. We do not receive any 'list' of passengers who will be denied boarding the ship that day. 

 

The only denials that we do are for arriving passengers who can't prove citizenship (like Americans who just show up with their regular driver license without a birth certificate), or passengers who are from certain foreign countries like China, the Philippines, South Africa, India, Brazil, etc  who do not have the required Canadian visa.   (US Permanent Residents / Green Card holders are exempt from needing the Canadian visa) .

 

Just an FYI, if someone you are traveling with does have an old DUI, I would also avoid taking the Skagway Train excursion that goes into the Yukon.  I had asked my shuttle bus driver on our Skagway train excursion about this and he did tell me that he has had passengers on his bus up / train down detained at the border, and the ship needed to send a car to return the individual back to the ship.  I was always curious about whether the Canadians really check for DUI's at their borders, and apparently  they do.  I asked this question in 2023.

[CruiserBruce]

21 hours ago, sprout76 said:

 We are planning on staying on the ship in BC, but I understand that you are technically in Canada just by docking.   

You are in Canada when you enter their waters, not when you dock.

[sprout76]

1 hour ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

I work at Pier 91 in Seattle. We do not receive any 'list' of passengers who will be denied boarding the ship that day. 

 

The only denials that we do are for arriving passengers who can't prove citizenship (like Americans who just show up with their regular driver license without a birth certificate), or passengers who are from certain foreign countries like China, the Philippines, South Africa, India, Brazil, etc  who do not have the required Canadian visa.   (US Permanent Residents / Green Card holders are exempt from needing the Canadian visa) .

 

Just an FYI, if someone you are traveling with does have an old DUI, I would also avoid taking the Skagway Train excursion that goes into the Yukon.  I had asked my shuttle bus driver on our Skagway train excursion about this and he did tell me that he has had passengers on his bus up / train down detained at the border, and the ship needed to send a car to return the individual back to the ship.  I was always curious about whether the Canadians really check for DUI's at their borders, and apparently  they do.  I asked this question in 2023.

Thank you for the information, this is very helpful.  We won't be doing the train as I saw that most of them required you to bring your passport. 

Edited September 14 by sprout76

[sprout76]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

You are in Canada when you enter their waters, not when you dock.

Thank you for the information.  I was aware, but I also figure that they would really need to want to go out of their way to come on the ship and detain him for a 5pm -10pm stop.  I was hoping if we just stayed on the ship and didn't even attempt to get off that no harm would be done.  At least it will be our last day and won't ruin the trip 😀

[cruiseryyc]

17 hours ago, sprout76 said:

Thank you for the information.  I was aware, but I also figure that they would really need to want to go out of their way to come on the ship and detain him for a 5pm -10pm stop.  I was hoping if we just stayed on the ship and didn't even attempt to get off that no harm would be done.  At least it will be our last day and won't ruin the trip 😀

"They" don't know you're planning on staying on the ship.  Canadian Border officials will be supplied a list of passengers well before the ship arrives; at that time they will flag anyone they want to speak to.  So he might get called down to the Pursers Desk for a conversation.

[Heidi13]

17 hours ago, sprout76 said:

Thank you for the information.  I was aware, but I also figure that they would really need to want to go out of their way to come on the ship and detain him for a 5pm -10pm stop.  I was hoping if we just stayed on the ship and didn't even attempt to get off that no harm would be done.  At least it will be our last day and won't ruin the trip 😀

 

The ship transmits a manifest to Canadian border services upon departure from the last US Port. Therefore, the decisions on who to interview are made prior to the ship docking. Once reviewed, the ship receives a list of pax they wish to interview.

 

In Canada, we consider drunk driving as a serious criminal offense, so yes, he may be listed for interview. It is then at the discretion of the attending officer, who may permit him ashore or ban him from leaving the vessel. Since he has illegally entered Canada, and clearly with this post, you are aware of the requirement, he could be charged and deported. Probably unlikely, but is one of the options available to the attending officer.

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

 

The ship transmits a manifest to Canadian border services upon departure from the last US Port. Therefore, the decisions on who to interview are made prior to the ship docking. Once reviewed, the ship receives a list of pax they wish to interview.

 

In Canada, we consider drunk driving as a serious criminal offense, so yes, he may be listed for interview. It is then at the discretion of the attending officer, who may permit him ashore or ban him from leaving the vessel. Since he has illegally entered Canada, and clearly with this post, you are aware of the requirement, he could be charged and deported. Probably unlikely, but is one of the options available to the attending officer.

 

100% correct.  As an official on the US side and as someone who has close relationships with CBSA, I know this happens pretty frequently. 

 

Folks may have noticed that it takes a little bit longer for authorities to clear the ship for debarkation in Victoria than in other ports.  It is because Canadian officials are very thorough in their checks.  

[karatemom2]

My son in law had a DUI just over 10 years ago when he was underage. He was well under the legal limit, but because he registered any level of alcohol it was an offense because of his age. 
 

When we first invited him to join us on an Alaska cruise 7 years ago, we weren’t aware of this issue or that he had an offense on his record. He actually got a call from Canadian Border Authorities prior to the cruise letting him know there was a possibility that he would not be allowed to enter at Victoria. Technically we didn’t even know if that would keep him off the cruise. The agent told him that based on his experience he would be allowed to sail, but might be denied to leave the ship in Victoria. 
 

He and my daughter were just dating at that point and it was very hard for him to come and share this. We understood it was a youthful indiscretion - he’s a really good guy. We decided to just go with the flow and be prepared if there were issues. The agent did say based on his age at the time, the passage of years, and the fact he was well below the legal limit would probably help his case. 
 

It ended up he had no trouble either boarding the ship or getting off in Victoria. We were nervous for sure though and it was made clear that Canada takes it very seriously.   
 

He has traveled with us many times since and is now officially part of the family. We just returned from an another round trip out of Vancouver and he has never had any other issue or contact. But I think this last trip after having so many previous successful experiences, was the first where he finally stopped worrying!

[sprout76]

1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

My son in law had a DUI just over 10 years ago when he was underage. He was well under the legal limit, but because he registered any level of alcohol it was an offense because of his age. 
 

When we first invited him to join us on an Alaska cruise 7 years ago, we weren’t aware of this issue or that he had an offense on his record. He actually got a call from Canadian Border Authorities prior to the cruise letting him know there was a possibility that he would not be allowed to enter at Victoria. Technically we didn’t even know if that would keep him off the cruise. The agent told him that based on his experience he would be allowed to sail, but might be denied to leave the ship in Victoria. 
 

He and my daughter were just dating at that point and it was very hard for him to come and share this. We understood it was a youthful indiscretion - he’s a really good guy. We decided to just go with the flow and be prepared if there were issues. The agent did say based on his age at the time, the passage of years, and the fact he was well below the legal limit would probably help his case. 
 

It ended up he had no trouble either boarding the ship or getting off in Victoria. We were nervous for sure though and it was made clear that Canada takes it very seriously.   
 

He has traveled with us many times since and is now officially part of the family. We just returned from an another round trip out of Vancouver and he has never had any other issue or contact. But I think this last trip after having so many previous successful experiences, was the first where he finally stopped worrying!

Thank you for this information.  Glad to hear he had no issues with embarkation/disembarkation in Vancouver.  I purposefully chose Seattle as our port so we could avoid having to fly into/out of Vancouver.  

 

There are currently 9 cabins of people and 6 of the people traveling are have all had DUIs (all more than 10 years ago)