legendqueue

I have to correct this, sorry and please understand I don't mean it to sound like I'm bashing you at all.  I mean it to be helpful because as you'll read I also believed this and it was a major pain and source of big-time anxiety.
 
The 182 days rolling calendar thing is a massively common misconception.  The misconception seems to stem from someone in a news article or snowbird blog post years ago conflating the "visitor visas only last 6 months" thing with the IRS "you have a maximum number of days per year or you gotta file US taxes" thing.  Then another article/blog researches theirs by googling and finding the first, and so on and so on, until now when you search it you find countless articles stating it as fact.  Here's an article clarifying what the real deal is:
 
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=bb7206f5-69f7-472f-94a2-cfb18755e3ea

I have had this confirmed by two separate officers at the Peace Arch border a little over a year ago, after believing the misconception for almost two years, keeping a careful spreadsheet, checking Maps timeline to make sure I hadn't missed any days, crossing south at 5 minutes after midnight to "save a day", etc.  I have always spent more time in Canada over a year, but because "a day" is counted by the IRS whether you're there for 24 hours or 24 minutes, staying a Sunday night and driving to Canada for work and then staying until Friday night still counted, so I was there for a weekend plus Friday evening but it counted as 4 days, which times 52 weeks is over 182, which was a source of major stress for a long time!
 
This is no reason to be carefree about travel as a tourist over the border though.  You can be denied entry based on suspicions of an officer about your intentions.  Anyone planning on crossing regularly like this needs to keep documents proving their connections to Canada and that they're planning to return, so return plane ticket if you're flying, details of your plans while in the USA, and documentation including but not limited to your Canadian home ownership/lease documents, several months of different utility bills, recent letter from your Canadian work saying you work there and they love you to bits, and so on.  Like the article above says, you aren't entitled to six seconds in the USA.  You are a visitor and you can be denied for any reason.  Be honest and have documentation and you probably won't have any issues, but again don't be blithe about it, it's an international border not a drive-thru.  
 
On a separate note, you *can* apply for an extension of the tourist visa and need to supply a reason, and apparently COVID-related reasons have been treated as acceptable this year.  This is only what I've heard from an immigration lawyer, though, so I don't know how difficult the process is, how to do it, etc.
 
Finally I should plunk down the IRS thing I mentioned above because it's important.  If the number of days you spent in the US the past year, plus 1/3 the number of days the year before that, plus 1/6 the number of days the year before *that* all total to 183 or more, the IRS requires you to file US taxes.  This is a surprisingly easy number to reach.
 
https://cardinalpointwealth.com/2015/01/07/am-i-a-u-s-tax-resident/#:~:text=Simply put%2C you become a,the past three calendar years.
 
Snowbirds get out of this by filing a "closer connection exemption" as mentioned in the article.  What the article does not mention (and I had to dig into the actual tax law to find this, then speak to a US tax accountant, then speak to the IRS) is that if your spouse is a US citizen or resident and lives there, you don't have a closer connection exemption to Canada even if your primary residence and work are there.  Yikes, you say, I don't want to pay taxes twice!  But luckily there is another thing in the tax treaty (and a separate form you file with the IRS) to say "here is my 1040 tax form saying that I owe X dollars, and here is my other form and documentation showing that I paid Y dollars in Canadian taxes, and Y is more than X so please work it out with Canada" and you're done.  The only time this becomes an issue is when for some reason the US taxes are higher than the Canadian taxes, for example if there is some exemption/deduction available in Canada that isn't in the US.  Did you know that in Canada you do not get charged any capital gains taxes on the sale of a primary residence, but in the USA you do not get charged capital gains on only the first $250k?  Given what real estate markets have done in the past 10+ years if you sold a house while subject to this rule you could be in for a bummer of a surprise.
 
Anyway sorry giant post.  I hope someone finds all or part of it interesting!
 

APPROVED
 
I got back to my room and collapsed to my knees and just sobbed for 5 minutes, like I'm a big emotional dude but didn't realize how much tension needed to come out haha.  Messaged my wife with the "Welcome to the United States of America" letter and she called and we talked and laughed and cried for 20 minutes.
 
Usual process that everyone here mentions: clock's broken, room is super quiet and dull, staff are totally nice.  Passport taken, wait 45+ minutes, documents taken, wait maybe 15 minutes, then interview.  I was asked about how we met which ended up being a rambling tale as it usually is, and about what wife does for work.  Fingerprints taken, handed over most recent pay stub and tax return from my wife, and then she said congratulations there's no problems here and that was it.  I'm having problems believing it was only really two questions but I guess we talked about stuff based on the questions so I probably answered stuff indirectly.
 
I was able to change my flight just to leaving at 16:00 today so quickest cross-country trip ever.
 
YAY SO HAPPY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
 
HR I love you, I'll update my timeline shortly.  Wife and I figured out yesterday that today is DAY NINE HUNDRED of our process.  900 days since we mailed the original petition.  And it's done, my God it's finally done, I'm going to cry again, thanks VJ, you guys have been great and I'll be sticking around for some time for support and stuff.  Sorry to the one person I randomly got cross at that one time, that's not me normally and I still feel bad for that.  Thank you all for direct support and for your stories and data and everything else.
 

You're welcome.  However, I want to emphasize again that people should not be *too* at ease, and that I am not a lawyer, which is why I tried not to editorialize and just let the link speak.  If someone wants to put their mind at ease then speaking to a professional is the most prudent step!  It's great to spread this information because knowledge is power, and it might even help during conversations with said professionals, but forums including this one are full of bad or misleading anecdotes and information, so should be seen as a starting point for making decisions and not as the sole basis for them.
 
To be totally clear again, this forum is amazing and wonderful and full of great information, but nobody should base any major life decisions on anything in it or any other forum without proper due diligence done by themselves with professionals who are experts in those matters.  Please

As HawkRiders said, check the FAQ for general answers on most of this. I'll give a cautionary tale based on my experience. You will want to check for the required compliance marks on your car (again, FAQ) and will probably need to get a Letter of Compliance from the manufacturer if the car meets Canadian safety standards. If the mark on the inside of the door mentions CMVSS but not FMVSS, it meets Canadian but not American safety standards. This is almost always due to TPMS which is installed by law on American cars since 2007 (ish) but is not a standard thing on Canadian cars. 
 
TPMS is where most peoples' issue lies. If you search for info online about this, you'll find plenty of people saying that CBP chose not to enforce the TPMS requirement and allowed the import, but this seems to be random and completely up to the CBP office. Peace Arch would not let me import my 2014 Camry without TPMS. I also got bad advice from a CBP officer on the phone who said any aftermarket TPMS would suffice -- I slapped on a cheap and cheerful Amazon TPMS based on this call and while the unit works great it also resulted in a frustrating 90 minute visit to Peace Arch secondary before being told I couldn't import it without a dealer-installed OEM TPMS. Luckily I was able to bring the car in *at all* because The Rules state that the one year grace period for importing a car only applies to temporary residents and at when I made my Peace Arch visit I had already been a permanent resident for 2 weeks, so they could have just told me to take my unimportable car back to Canada and that would be... very bad.
 
I called both Toyota USA and Toyota Canada and they cannot or will not install TPMS on this model of Camry. I checked the instrument panel and it doesn't even have a TPMS light, so it's also unlikely it has the harness or any other stuff required.  
 
In any case I'm 10 miles on the US side of the border with an unimportable car on which the Canadian insurance will no longer be valid in just over a week since Washington law says you have 30 days to register the car you brought in when you move, and ICBC says you have to confirm to the laws of the state you're in to have the policy remain active. I also have no idea how I can insure the car here since I can't get tags for it (register it) since it's not imported. And I can't just sell it in Canada because of what I feel are pretty obvious reasons lol. Basically I'm going to have to wait for the border to reopen or for quarantine requirements to be lifted, and presumably there's going to be some sort of vaccination requirement tied in there so I have to wait for that too, then figure out some sort of temporary insurance, then return to Canada and sell the vehicle.
 
If anyone has experience with or has a great idea about this kind of situation I'd love to hear it, but I think I'm kinda screwed haha. But I'm down here with my family so really this is just another thing to roll my eyes about in this process!
 
Oh man I'm so sorry this is so long, everyone.
 
TLDR: *as far as possible before your POE date*, check for emission and safety standards markings, if you don't have FMVSS certification get the letter of compliance from Toyota Canada, if your car is missing TPMS either sell it or see if Toyota can install it.  Or find the magical CBP office that will allow import without TPMS, but even then I'd be worried that a potential future insurance claim might get denied on the basis that the car wasn't FMVSS compliant.
 

As HawkRiders said, check the FAQ for general answers on most of this. I'll give a cautionary tale based on my experience. You will want to check for the required compliance marks on your car (again, FAQ) and will probably need to get a Letter of Compliance from the manufacturer if the car meets Canadian safety standards. If the mark on the inside of the door mentions CMVSS but not FMVSS, it meets Canadian but not American safety standards. This is almost always due to TPMS which is installed by law on American cars since 2007 (ish) but is not a standard thing on Canadian cars. 
 
TPMS is where most peoples' issue lies. If you search for info online about this, you'll find plenty of people saying that CBP chose not to enforce the TPMS requirement and allowed the import, but this seems to be random and completely up to the CBP office. Peace Arch would not let me import my 2014 Camry without TPMS. I also got bad advice from a CBP officer on the phone who said any aftermarket TPMS would suffice -- I slapped on a cheap and cheerful Amazon TPMS based on this call and while the unit works great it also resulted in a frustrating 90 minute visit to Peace Arch secondary before being told I couldn't import it without a dealer-installed OEM TPMS. Luckily I was able to bring the car in *at all* because The Rules state that the one year grace period for importing a car only applies to temporary residents and at when I made my Peace Arch visit I had already been a permanent resident for 2 weeks, so they could have just told me to take my unimportable car back to Canada and that would be... very bad.
 
I called both Toyota USA and Toyota Canada and they cannot or will not install TPMS on this model of Camry. I checked the instrument panel and it doesn't even have a TPMS light, so it's also unlikely it has the harness or any other stuff required.  
 
In any case I'm 10 miles on the US side of the border with an unimportable car on which the Canadian insurance will no longer be valid in just over a week since Washington law says you have 30 days to register the car you brought in when you move, and ICBC says you have to confirm to the laws of the state you're in to have the policy remain active. I also have no idea how I can insure the car here since I can't get tags for it (register it) since it's not imported. And I can't just sell it in Canada because of what I feel are pretty obvious reasons lol. Basically I'm going to have to wait for the border to reopen or for quarantine requirements to be lifted, and presumably there's going to be some sort of vaccination requirement tied in there so I have to wait for that too, then figure out some sort of temporary insurance, then return to Canada and sell the vehicle.
 
If anyone has experience with or has a great idea about this kind of situation I'd love to hear it, but I think I'm kinda screwed haha. But I'm down here with my family so really this is just another thing to roll my eyes about in this process!
 
Oh man I'm so sorry this is so long, everyone.
 
TLDR: *as far as possible before your POE date*, check for emission and safety standards markings, if you don't have FMVSS certification get the letter of compliance from Toyota Canada, if your car is missing TPMS either sell it or see if Toyota can install it.  Or find the magical CBP office that will allow import without TPMS, but even then I'd be worried that a potential future insurance claim might get denied on the basis that the car wasn't FMVSS compliant.
 

Have you already consulted this group's FAQ and conducted a forum search? Both of those serve as invaluable tools for resolving the questions you have presented.

Hello, 
 
I have been a silent member but got immense help from this group. Thanks to everyone here for sharing their experiences! I had my interview on Feb 24 and received passport on March 7th in Vancouver. We plan to move to Seattle around March 20th. Have a few questions:
 
1) Is there a negative COVID test required at land border crossing?
2) What forms and documents are needed at POE for customs? 
3) I have a 2010 Toyota Camry (have not been able to sell it off), so looking for options to take it with me. How can I take the car with me without importing it at the moment? How will insurance and licensing work in Washington state during the one year before registration?
For the other option, if I import it, what are the documents that I need to have to present at POE? What are the next steps to do in Washington to register the car? Looking for firsthand experiences. Thanks! 

Remember, regardless of your POE you're going to secondary when you activate your IV

YES! I'm so happy to hear this and can't wait to hear about you guys finally being together. SOON!!! ACTUALLY SOON NOT BUREAUCRACY SOON!!!

YES! I'm so happy to hear this and can't wait to hear about you guys finally being together. SOON!!! ACTUALLY SOON NOT BUREAUCRACY SOON!!!

YES! I'm so happy to hear this and can't wait to hear about you guys finally being together. SOON!!! ACTUALLY SOON NOT BUREAUCRACY SOON!!!

Hi VJ family! I'm back to (finally) share some positive news. After many emails explaining why the Consulate made an incorrect decision on refusing my husband his immigrant visa, they finally fixed their mistake and ISSUED the visa. We just received the tracking number today. It's been such an emotional roller coaster for us these past 3 years and even more so in the past 3 months alone since our interview in December. I'm proud of us for staying strong and fighting our case to the Consulate and never giving up! We're so grateful that the end is now here. @Hawk Riders - time to change our place in the tracker to be highlighted in GREEN (approved). I hated seeing that highlighted in RED these past couple of months. 
 
 Thank you all for your support and guidance throughout our journey. WE DID IT! ❤️ 
 
 

Oh, also found out that my GC is arriving this Saturday, 16 days after POE!  Apparently the lawyer advice we got, which was to pay the immigration fee only after crossing at POE, was good (at least for me, a small sample size).  He said that if you pay it before stuff can get mixed up for whatever reason and it can take months to get the GC, but if you pay after the various systems align and you get it quickly.  Your mileage may vary of course.  It's nice to have a couple of things in this process finally go smoothly 😛 

Smart!
 
Just adding to this: my SSN was in an Social Security envelope addressed to both me and my wife. If you checked the "yup I want an SSN" box when you did the original application that the envelope will be addressed to both the applicant and, er, applicee (I never could get all those terms right) so there wouldn't be an issue. Throwing a sticker on is low-tech genius though and that's my favorite kind of genius.

Smart!
 
Just adding to this: my SSN was in an Social Security envelope addressed to both me and my wife. If you checked the "yup I want an SSN" box when you did the original application that the envelope will be addressed to both the applicant and, er, applicee (I never could get all those terms right) so there wouldn't be an issue. Throwing a sticker on is low-tech genius though and that's my favorite kind of genius.

POE Feb 18, received SSN today March 1. They truncated my middle name but according to web search and a quick call they don't care about this, so OK I guess. I didn't expect some chintzy paper thing, I mean my 33 year old Canadian social insurance card is plastic, but not complaining haha.

Update: I recieved my visa this Monday (picked it up at post office). For those not following my timeline I got approved the previous Tuesday in the tracker, and got my tracking number on Friday. Went to Calgary that day. The following day drove across the border at sweet grass poe. Went very well. The agent asked me to pull in and got me to fill out my car import paperwork while she did my visa. Took about 45 minutes. She only checked the paperwork I needed for my car. Didn't ask for itemized list or my dogs shots. I've made it to my final destination and just hoping to get ssn quickly. Thanks again to everyone who shared their info that helped me. I'll update when I get my two pieces of ID. 

I'm planning to do exactly the same route when my interview is over and passport arrives. Really appreciated hearing your experience and confirmed a lot of what I expected. Also gave me lots of feels. Best of luck and welcome home!

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.
 

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.
 

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.
 

Congratulations to all that have been recently approved and entered the US.
 
I just wanted to update everyone on my husband’s POE.
 
First, our timeline:
 
Jan 29:  interview (approved)
Jan 30:  refused
Feb 9:  updated to issued
Feb 11:  passport mailed
Feb 15:  passport received
 
My husband entered the US via the Peace Bridge into Buffalo on February 22.  He used a 15 foot UHaul truck and trailer to transport his car.  Cost altogether was approximately US$130.  
 
After initially being yelled at by the CBP officer for using the wrong lane (which he wasn’t, by the way), the officer told him to write down the license plate numbers for the truck, trailer and his car.  
 
He was then directed to secondary.  The officers were not terribly accommodating or understanding regarding his inability to maneuver a large truck and trailer easily.  
 
Fortunately, his experience at secondary was brief and uneventful.  He was literally there for less than 10 minutes while the officer processed his visa.  The officer said that the government is backed up and processing his Green Card could take some time.  I hope that as evidenced by the other posters here that will not be the case.  He had a 3395 Customs Declaration form completed and was not asked for it and the officer did not look at the contents of his truck.  Also, there was no mention of any sort of quarantine.
 
I am grateful to finally have him with me and glad this phase is over.  From the time we filed our initial petition until he received his visa in hand was 790 days.  It is an incredibly long road, but I want to give hope to all others that it will be over eventually and to be patient.  You will get there!

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.
 

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.
 

I'm home.
 
Arrived at Peace Arch around 5:45pm on Thursday Feb 18.  Day was sort of an avalanche of delays and minor things going wrong but nothing really major, so showing up at the crossing was a few hours behind schedule.  I rolled up in a 10 foot uhaul towing my car.  Said I was activating my visa, was asked if I was moving which was a fun question given that I was *driving a moving truck*, and got sent over into secondary.  After a while I got asked the usual declaration questions, answered them, and presented my list o' stuff and what boxes they were in.  The list was treated like it was on fire so I guess nobody wants to have to actually review the list and they may figure that if someone actually went to the trouble of preparing such a list that they're not playing fast and loose with the rules, which was true for me.  Chilled in the truck for about 30-40 minutes, tried to distract myself from randomly crying or whatever about being on the very last step of this 908 day journey, messaged my wife who relayed a message from our 6-year-old that he thought it would be a good idea if they came to the border to help, since I was taking "for ages", etc.  Eventually another officer came to check the visa and told me to come inside.  I recommend the restroom inside the Peace Arch CBP building for its exciting 30-second-long flush, incidentally.  Anyway I sat on the bench in a very empty building (5 or so officers and me) and admired the Chihuly glass-blowing stuff.  Got called up and answered a few questions and had a photo taken, which I didn't see but is quite possibly the worst photo ever taken of me as I was exhausted, my hair was a wreck from loading the truck and hooking up the tow dolly in the rain, and I'd been randomly tearing up for the last hour or so.  The officer stamped my passport and said congratulations and I sputtered some sort of thank you and said "I'm just gonna go cry in the truck a bit" which I did while messaging "I'm coming home" to my wife before driving the last 15 minutes to get to her and my step-son.
 
She'd made spaghetti and meatballs.  It was the most delicious meal of my life.