What personal info about you do border crossings save?

Question

I cross the US/Canada border quite often and every time its for a strange (but not illegal) purpose. Alot of the times to save myself from having to get into an in depth explanation about my visit I just tell the officers a simplified semi true version of the story, just so I have less of a chance of slipping up and stuttering (isn't that what they look for?) and just basically saving myself alot of time and headaches.

If entering by car.. do they match the lisence plate of the car you enter in with your passport to make sure you re-enter in the same vehicle?

Basically I want to know what it says on the officers computer screen about me when I go in and out canada or the US. (im a canadian citizen)

Answer 1

There are two parts to the identification process.

The vehicle. As you drive up to the booth, the plates are being scanned by TV cameras, and the data base is looking to see if it is "wanted or stolen" in either the USA or Canada. If that plate has ever been connected to a smuggling or Immigration file, it will show as an "alert " on the screen, and the inspector will send you to "secondary inspection " for further investigation .

The person "

Your identification may be asked for. How you present your self, and your reaction to questions is being looked at. The eyes are a important source of non verbal signals, to the inspector. A second set of indicators are the person and the vehicle, Do they match, or are they an odd mismatch ? A 18 year old driving a 200, 000 dollar motor home is bound to be checked deeply. The same for a 65 year old woman driving a " rice racer " modified Honda.

The shared data base keeps track of your crossings, going back 5 years from date. So, yes your movements are recorded  in there.

Jim B. Toronto.