Can I, a British Green Card holder residing in western NY, go to pick up my British mother flying into Toronto airport and bring her back home?

Question

I am a British green card holder. My mother lives in the UK and visits us as a tourist periodically so she can see the grandkids. It has recently started becoming a more economical proposition to fly into Toronto airport than the usual connections she takes through airports like JFK and Philadelphia. We are currently looking to do this for her visit over the winter holiday season.

I would be more than happy to make that trip to Toronto airport to go pick her up, however I am nervous at the prospect of returning to the US via the Rainbow Bridge in case the border guards were to view us with some suspicion. A non-citizen permanent resident bringing in their non-citizen non-immigrant family member via a land border will likely trigger some red flags to them. She will obviously have all necessary documentation proving her eligibility to visit on an ESTA, airline booking confirmations of return flights. She is additionally part of the Global Entry program. I would hope it would be enough to satisfy any potential suspicion at the border.

Would this course of action be okay to take?

Any advice very much appreciated.

Answer 1

She (and you) will be fine. She's unlikely to attract any more attention than if flying in. It's the same CBP rules whether at the airport or a land port of entry.

ESTA approval is required, which you've said will be satisfied, and she already has Global Entry, so they're already not concerned about her entering the country. Many foreigners cross land borders all the time in similar situations to yours.

They may require a stop for her to get a I-94 (since they can't do photo and fingerprints in the car), but she'd do that in the airport anyway.

No red flags are being raised here - no need to overthink the situation.

Edit to add: As commented by @Aubreal there is the caveat that it's still up to the CBP officer, they can still pull you aside for additional questioning even if everything is in order. This can happen whether flying, driving, walking etc.

Answer 2

Of course one often hears horror stories about unreasonable officers, but the vast majority are reasonable and will recognize that your mother flying to Toronto is reasonable, whether because of cost or because of other considerations. In the unlikely event that they challenge you, stick to your story -- the truth -- that it's more economical, that it's more convenient for her not to have to take two flights, and whatever other considerations factored into the decision.

For many places around Buffalo and Niagara Falls, it's probably also faster because having to change planes to get to Buffalo adds more time to the trip than one would need to drive from the Toronto airport.

I have some friends in Kingston (Ontario), and I've visited them on couple of occasions from New York City by flying to Syracuse and renting a car, because flights to Canada were something like 3 or 4 times the cost of a flight to Syracuse. One of those times, the Canadian border officer raised his eyebrow and said "Arkansas?" I had just enough presence of mind to remember that the car had Arkansas license plates, so I said "it's a rental," and then explained that the $100 flight plus the car rental and 2-hour drive seemed like the better option, and that was it. Since you live nearby, you will be far less likely to raise red flags. If you were bringing your mother in over the land border while being a resident of Colorado, you might have to have a more substantial explanation.

On one of my visits to Kingston, when we returned to the US, the officer looked at my passport and asked me what I'd been doing in Turkey -- where I had last been over a year previously. I think he asked because he couldn't ask my wife (she works for the UN and has "semi diplomatic" immigration status), but since I'm a US citizen I'm fair game. I would have pushed back -- pleaded the fifth or whatever -- but we had a plane to catch so I answered "vacation." That was the end of it.

I suppose what I'm getting at is that the officer may throw some things like this at you to see how you react: questions that could be seen as implying that something is afoot even though there's no reason for suspicion and the questions don't necessarily imply anything. They will be looking for a defensive reaction or signs of stress or nervousness. If you're nervous about your mother entering by the land border, and if you show this nervousness in response, they may pick up on that, and that is more likely to raise a red flag than anything else.

If that happens, just be honest about the reason for your nervousness and secure in the knowledge that there's absolutely nothing wrong with your mother's travel plans. Better still, be secure in that knowledge and realize that there's nothing to worry about.