Count Your Border-Crossing Days
11/28/11 • By Milan Korcok, Editor
With cross-border travel increasing: for shopping, visiting family or friends, short or long term vacations, it’s important you keep track of your time spent in the United States. Certainly, American are not trying to keep you out. They welcome Canadians and they appreciate your business. But there are rules about how long you can visit.
Canadians are allowed to visit the U.S. for no more than six months per calendar year, and given the increased sophistication of surveillance technologies, passport scanners, and inter-government data sharing, you can’t take the chance that won’t be detected for the occasional overstay. If you are, you can be banned from entering the U.S. for years—maybe forever if your infractions have become egregious.
Border agents generally think in terms of months, rather than days: May 16 to November 16 will generally count as six months, rather than the 185 days it really is. But don’t try to split hairs with them. They don’t like it. Some do it one way, some another. The rules are not hard and fast on that. So to give yourself a cushion of safety, stick to the 182-day rule. And do count the day you step into or out of the U.S. as one full day, even if it is only an hour: just as you would count the six-hour shopping trip to Buffalo as one full day.
One of the most frequent questions we get here at TIF is how long must one stay in Canada before returning to the U.S. after a six month stay? There is no specific rule for that. There is no requirement that you must stay put in Canada for X days before returning to the U.S. What matters is how many days in total over the course of a calendar year (that means between January 1 and December 31) you have been in the United States.
And besides counting your days, you also have to use your common sense. If you spent the last six months of 2011
in the U.S. and you think you can drive home to Ontario for six days and then head back south again for another six months, you’re asking for trouble. Because besides the six month rule, that border agent is going to use his common sense and realize that you are clearly planning on spending more time in the U.S. than in Canada and with that will come a lot of questions . And the agent has a right to do that. And if he or she feels you are trying to take advantage of your rights to visit, you could be turned around in your tracks—no questions asked. Don’t be greedy.
In coming days and weeks, TIF will be offering special services and resources, among them a detailed e-book, which will specify the rules about cross border travel, how long you can be in the U.S., how long you can stay out of the country while still retaining your medicare benefits (with a province by province breakdown of the rules), as well as advice about travel health insurance: how to keep your costs down, how to be sure the plan you choose is right for you, what to look for in buying insurance and what to avoid—in short, a survival guide to the art of snowbirding—in plain language and in the amount of detail you need to make to make it of practical value.
Keep checking back. We’ll be making announcement on these enhancements to our site in our special email Newsletter. If you haven’t yet signed up for it yet, do so. It’s free. Sign up is right on the homepage.
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I read this article with interest as I have others. We just recently retired and are spending more time south of the border in Florida. While some articles like this reference the maximum of 6 months or 182 days on a calendar year basis others often written by financial planning types reference 1/6 of the days spent in 2009, 1/3 of the days spent in 2010 plus actual number of days spent in 2011 can’t total more than the 182 days.
Are there different rules in play with the Border agents vs. IRS?
I find your newsletters very interesting and appreciate most of the information contained therein.
Richard:
Your question is an excellent one. The reason you may be confused is that the “financial planning types” need to learn to write in plain English–or French, or whatever. They need to explain what they are referring to.
The formula you refer to is also called the “substantial presence test”, which is, in effect, a threshold designed to determine if you are a non-resident alien for tax purposes. It does not define how long you are allowed to visit in the U.S. each year, which is six months–usually calculated out as 182 days. If you meet the substantial presence test, you will fall into the category of alien for tax purposes–which means you are subject to file tax forms to the IRS. Most snowbirds will meet this test and are defined as non-resident aliens for tax purposes. But not to worry. That filing can be avoided legally if you file IRS tax form 8840 which asks some relatively simple questions designed to establish that you have a closer connection to Canada and are therefore exempt from the IRS filing requirement: e.g., do you pay taxes to Canada, where is your banking headquartered, do you have a permanent home, social relationships, etc. The exception to that is if you earn money in the U.S. from investments or rental properties or similar endeavours (understanding, of course that you are not allowed to work in the U.S): in such a case you will have to file with the IRS.
But if you don’t have those U.S. earnings, and you meet the substantial presence test, just file your 8840 each year and you don’t have to lose sleep about what the financial planning types have to say on that subject. You can still stay in the U.S. up to six months per year—either in one continuous stretch or in an aggregation of shorter trips.
Milan
Thanks so much for your response as well as the follow up to the subsequent question. This is the most definitive answer I have seen on this subject and really appreciate your clarity on this subject.
Do we have to count the 19 days that we are physically out of the USA and can prove so, by way of passport stamps as time in the US. My concern is we aren’t in the usa, however; we are not in canada either, so maybe there is some convaluted rule that will require us to count those 19 days and I have to be sure we don’t go over the 182.
We are snowbirds, and are very careful about staying less than 182 days, even if just by a few days.
We know about the form 8840, and comply.
This year we had greater than normal # of days for us, because of purchasing a new apartment and returning next month for about 30 days to renovate it.
We need to go back November 27 at the latest, as we are flying to Italy out of Ft Lauderdale Dec 1 for a 19 day cruise. and will re-enter the US at the Ft. Lauderdale Port on Dec 20
Please help
Sharon
Sharon:
I think what you’re asking is: do you have to count the 19 days you were out of the U.S. on a cruise as part of your U.S. 192 day allotment. Yes. So long as you left from a U.S. port and returned to a U.S. port, it counts so long as it is less than 30 days. Makes no difference how many stamps you have in your passport. Why don’t you stay 11 more days in Italy to bring your total up to 30 and then you can discount them all? Italy’s not bad in November.
Milan
I live in Quebec as a permanent Canadian citizen. I travel to Vermont most weekends for 3-4 days. I believe that immigration and IRS are 2 separate issues. My questions are as follows:
1. For immigration purposes if I stay under the 182 days in the US per calender year am I legal?
2. For tax purposes must I file form 8840 to protect my closer connection exemption?
Ron:
Yes to both questions.
Milan
Hi, I was wondering how i can find out how many days i have spent in the USA? i have been recording them but i am unsure exactly where i am at and want to make sure i do not go over. Can you please help me find someone who can tell me?
THanks,
Laurie
Laurie:
You have to keep track of these days yourself. The U.S.Border Control does not
provide a tracking request service. They’ve got enough to do. Get a calendar and mark off the days as you use them.
Milan
Please tell me if we go to USA for 3 or 4 hours during one day. Does it count for 1 day for Canada?
Thanks
Yvan
Yvan:
Yes. I assume you mean does it count against your out of province allowance for medicare benefits.
Milan
1- I understand that the US keeps track of you when you enter (point of entry) but how do they know when you leave (you only check into the Canadian side of the border or when returning from Mexico on a day trip you only check into the US side) —–as I understand it, the US/Canadian Borders do not share information unless requested?
2-Form 8840 should be filled out by whom? I do weekends, day trips and 3 months in the winter…Is it for me or should I worry?
3-Where on the US Customs site would you find the Calendar Year and 6 month calculation…..Your site says from Jan1 to Dec 31 and I have been told it is from your last entry back a year!
Thanks
Appreciate all the info that your site gives
Al
Al:
The tracking system out is imprefect but it should should be followed. The U.S. and Canada do share information frequently and when you go back home your passport is looked at and stamped. The reciprocal arrangements between government are increasing so you should assume your crossings are pretty well tracked.
You should complete an 8840 if you spend long periods ot time in the U.S each year. There is a three year retroactive formula that tells you if you are subject to U.S. taxes, and the 8840 relieves you of that. If you are only a casual visitor, a few days at a time and not in the three to four months a year range, you needn’t bother.
There is no single U.S. website that articulates whether the six month rule is on a calendar year basis or a previous 12 month basis. They are both applied and when you look at it you will see they amount to the same thing. We arrive at these distinctions after going to many sites, and documents and discussions with Immigration officials. A lot of discretion is given to the border agents who must be satisfied you are not spending more time in the U.S. than in Canada, that you have a closer connection to Canada, and that you will return to Canada when you say you will.
Milan