[delayed]

There's people who live in Tijuana, Mexico and work in San Diego, California and that's way worse than Canada/USA in terms of time and hassle. Not something I'd want to do, but then I wouldn't want to live in Connecticut and work in NYC, which many people do either.

I had an unplanned short stop in Singapore in December after missing a connecting flight. I just filled in an arrival form online (no Visa), went through the electronic gates, an officer glanced at me and let me through without a word. Whole process took about ten minutes, and it would have been quicker if I’d filed the paperwork beforehand.

Where are you located? Lots of such crossings used to happen, anyway, many years ago via Nexus or similar. Get the pass, just drive right on through over the bridge at Windsor/Detroit. Also similar things in Vancouver, I believe.

I reentered the US from Windsor a few months ago and the Nexus line was backed up but could just sail through the regular line once they inched enough past the tunnel.

Sure, all bets are off as of January 2025. In the past, it wasn't a big deal.

Have you actually crossed the border since Jan? I have, and it's just as easy.

It varies depending on where and when you cross.

TBH, I’ve gotten a lot more shit over the years from Canadian authorities at the border. The Canadians are tough about foreigners with convictions entering the country, and if you share a name with someone with a DUI, sometimes you get flagged. All border police do random tit for tit enforcement or look for specific things for reasons.

I don't know about the USA, but such an arrangement is extremely common in Europe thanks to the Schengen area.

Schengen has no borders at all, but JB and Singapure do have one

Woodlands is the busiest immigration checkpoint on the planet and it's only 1 of 2 crossings. It's fairly seamless for regulars apart from Friday afternoons when it gets clogged up by escaping Singaporeans keen for the weekend and the quality/value offered by their poorer neighbour.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodlands_Checkpoint

Fascinating.

It appears to be the world's second busiest checkpoint now though if you count the Macau to China checkpoint.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_checkpoint#Busiest_chec...

I stand corrected, interesting, I assume its the same and for work?

US borders are awful. I guess you get away with it because the USA is so large that most people rarely leave, so rarely have to experience it.

I'm north of the line... most of my troubles have been on the way back up except for one random search on the way down. On the way back they always give me the third degree for some reason, often searching, despite zero record and always declaring stuff. I must inspire contempt in the CBSA heart

There are actually a fair number of folks that commute from Canada to the US for work. They will generally have TN Visas, it is certainly not "unthinkable" - it really does happen, although I will confess that the only folks I have ever met that did it were not recommending it to anyone else!

Plenty of people commute from Windsor (Ontario) to the Detroit Metro Area daily.

They’ve introduced facial recognition at this border, starting with motorcyclists. You just scan a QR code to get in. If that’s not an option, the gates are automated – you scan your passport and you can walk straight through.

Singapore has the smoothest border controls I’ve ever experienced; it takes me less than half an hour between stepping off a plane at Changi to stepping into my apartment.

Whenever I fly to Europe (from New Zealand), I always go via Singapore, I just zip through, everything is convenient and clean.

Transiting through the American shitshow that requires clearing immigration again on the other hand…

Borders in some places look more like a gate to enter metro, if you earned (or born with) trust bit