Canada to US - Air Travel only with work permit

Hello Guys,

I've just returned from a Christmas break with my husband and would like to share our experience. I was searching a lot for people to share their experiences while they travel to US by air on work permit/study permit. Unfortunately, I got many conflicting reviews and so, I decided to share my own experience with everybody. So, YES you can return to Canada from US on a work permit/student permit as long as you are only going to US St. Pierre and Miquelon and obviously, you need US visitor visa to travel to US - except for people belonging from visa exempt countries.

So, when we planned my trip, we were expecting to land with our PR visa but as everybody knows, Canadian Immigration doesn't work as we plan, and we got our "Ready for Visa Letter" just 10 days before our trip and so, we decided to send our passports for stamping after we return from our vacation from US. My husband and I both have our work permits but our temporary resident visa that allows us to re-enter Canada was expired. We didn't renew it because our PR was in processing and we thought that we may get it around October end or early November. So, we were in big dilemma and all of a sudden a friend from Canada visa forum told me that we can go to US with our work permit and I was like...Really??

So, I decided to do some research and I found out many varying responses. I even put my question on the forum and people just shared their 3-4 year old experience. I wanted someone who have travelled this year. Well, 1-2 people confirmed but no one shared their full experience like any questions asked, any difficulty etc. So, then I called CIC and they confirmed that we can re-enter to Canada from US as long as we have just travelled to US on our study/work permit. Here is a snapshot of my email (you can click on the image to read it clearly):

I was pretty happy with the email but still I wasn't satisfied. I guess it's just mine mental health issue. I searched and searched and found this: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/regulations/SOR-2002-227/page-80.html#docCont, under Division 5 of Temporary Resident Visa Exemptions (Point 190 (3)(f) for Visa exemption - purpose of entry)

I printed both the documents. I kept my post graduate work permit and my expired study permit. I kept my expired study permit because I entered Canada as a student (my passport just had my student TRV) and if in case, any questions asked, I can always show them my study permit and I packed my bags and left for the airport.

While going to US - airport experience

While going to US, we had our pre-immigration clearance at the Edmonton International Airport. The US immigration official just asked us where we are going, took our finger prints and then stamped our passport. After that was done, our US flight was treated more likely like the domestic flight as there was no US immigration when we reached Orlando, Florida.

Returning to Canada - airport experience

Well, while returning to Canada, we were bit stressed as will we be allowed to enter Canada. Although we had all the supporting documents, it was just a concern we were having. We flew through WestJet and they just checked our passport photo for identification purposes. Well, I would say it was very convenient when we landed to Edmonton airport. We showed our passports and our work permits to the immigration officer. He just asked that where we went in US, which hotel we stayed and what shopping we did from US. Then he just stamped our passport and let us into Canada.

Well, this was my experience. I hope its helpful to all the people who are looking for this information. Share your experience if you may have any.