Problems at the Border...

Hello Everyone! 

So sorry to post this quite a bit late. Here I thought that I was ahead of the game and had everything all set and ready to go...all I needed to do was a bit of updating to finalize. 
However this updating needed to be done while I was on vacation (exploring the Caribbean), and with the horrible wifi that I was only occasionally able to connect to, it just wasn't happening. 

So here it finally is:

Back in 2012 within our summer travels I had planned a trip to Vancouver, Canada. This was going to be the kids first time to British Columbia, as well as the first stamp in their Passports!

I had decided that we would fly into Seattle (it worked for the rest of our itinerary) and then drive the 146 miles up to Vancouver and across the border into Canada. 
I love road trips and was ready for an adventure...however this wasn't exactly the type of adventure that I was hoping for.

Once we landed into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, we had hired a rental and off we went. We were heading on up to the Canadian Border. Deciding to grab a yummy dinner first in Seattle we had stopped at Cyber Dogs (which is now permanently closed). 


Then we were on our way!

The drive was pleasant, there was no traffic to speak of and it wasn't too long before we reached the border. 
We pulled up, handed our passports to the Customs officer and to our surprise the next thing you know we were being asked to pull over and park the car! 
We were told that we needed to go inside for further investigation! 

Once we stepped inside, we were very lucky that there were no lines. Really just incredibly fortunate that it wasn't during a busy period (otherwise this could've taken HOURS). 
Right away they separate me from Dave B. and the children! 
I certainly wasn't liking this and I was mostly concerned for the kids no knowing what was happening or why (and wondering wth is going on)!

We each needed to be questioned separately. And I was first. 
You see, the problem was that I wasn't traveling with a letter from Dave C. (their father) stating that he was aware of the kids leaving the country. 


So now to the Canadian government it had seemed like I could've been kidnapping my own children! 

*Because of increasing instances of child abduction in custody cases, and a growing number of children who are the victims of trafficking or pornography, an immigration officer, airline, or travel company may ask you to provide some form of letter of consent if your child is traveling internationally with only one parent or with another adult, such as a grandparent, aunt, uncle, etc.

I maintained a good attitude and I thought the entire situation was quite funny, not to mention a huge waste of time (and we all know how much I hate wasting time). 


In our case...We live with Dave C. and we had been in communication the entire night about how the trip was going.


So after several questions from the officer, including him asking plenty about Dave C., once I had mentioned that I had just been texting with him not that long ago the officer immediately asked that I hand over my phone. 
Then the officer had completely examined all of my recent texts (to Dave and others), and searched around on the device. 
Luckily he found whatever he was looking for and had explained that we would not have needed to go through this entire ordeal if we had been traveling with a letter to document that the parent not traveling was aware of the said trip. 

So to save you all of that trouble and the invasion of privacy, do yourself a favor and
CLICK HERE for a link to a letter that you can print, fill out, and take with you anytime you plan on leaving the country solo with your kids!

And just so you know that after the ordeal at the border, we all had a most excellent time touring around the beautiful city of Vancouver! 


I highly recommend a visit!

-T