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Entering the USA

Alt-42-1337Alt-42-1337 Registered User regular
edited August 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
This is an alt, obv.

Anyways, here's the situation : I am a canadian living in the province of Québec. I want to go to the USA by car. I have a valid passport so that's not the problem .

The problem is than I got a ticket last time I visited this country, 2 years ago. I didnt paid it. It's for a minor offense. I was in Indiana when that happened. It was the local police who gave me said ticket. I dont have the intention of going into that state and I wont be driving the same car I was last time. The ticket in question doesnt appear on my Québec driving record.

Still, I'm worried : Could I get into trouble because of that unpaid ticket when trying to cross into the US? If the worse that can happen to me is being asked to pay than I'll pay no problem, but I'm worried about being denied entry into the country.

Am I worried for nothing?

Alt-42-1337 on

Posts

  • LailLail Surrey, B.C.Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    I'm in BC here. My friend has some outstanding tickets from Oregon and he never gets asked anything when entering from BC to Washington.

    Lail on
  • HevachHevach Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Traffic tickets don't go up to the federal level, so you're good. Most states will notify the driver's home state in the case of out-of-state tickets but not other states, and only a few states (not Indiana as far as I know, and if they did it would have already come back to haunt you) have arrangements to do this with Canadian drivers. A few states, Michigan among them, don't even notify US drivers' home states, meaning if you get a ticket here even a citizen can hide from it as long as they don't come back to Michigan. I had a parking meter ticket in Wisconsin that I wasn't even aware of for about four years because Wisconsin and Michigan don't share that information. I only found out about it when I went back to Wisconsin and got picked up on a bench warrant and had to pay the ticket plus god knows what kind of late fees and impound. If you ever go back to Indiana, that could be a problem, but other states, as far as I know you'll be fine.

    Hevach on
  • JebusUDJebusUD Adventure! Candy IslandRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Couldn't you just pay the ticket?

    JebusUD on
    and I wonder about my neighbors even though I don't have them
    but they're listening to every word I say
  • Inquisitor77Inquisitor77 2 x Penny Arcade Fight Club Champion A fixed point in space and timeRegistered User regular
    edited August 2010
    No, that would be the right thing to do. Also, probably pretty expensive given the time lapse.

    Inquisitor77 on
  • ArrathArrath Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Yeah, as long as you steer clear of Indiana you should be in the clear. Not to say that you shouldn't have paid that ticket, of course.

    Arrath on
  • Alt-42-1337Alt-42-1337 Registered User regular
    edited August 2010
    Well, I'm back from my vacation and the ticket caused me no problem at all in the end :)

    Alt-42-1337 on
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