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I'm a Canadian citizen with a valid passport and also a holder of a Hong Kong resident card. Can i fly directly from Hong Kong to the US using my Canadian passport without a visa?
What if the trip was for business? As in I'm working for an outside company and am meeting US clients?
Canadian citizens may generally enter the US without a visa. Exceptions where Canadians are required to have a visa depend on the purpose for which they are entering, or on their criminal and immigration history, not on the location from which they are traveling nor on the jurisdiction wherein they reside.
In most circumstances, Canadian citizens do not require visitor, business, transit or other visas to enter the United States, either from Canada or from other countries. There are, however, some exceptions to this situation. These exceptions (and the visa category they require) include:
Treaty traders (requires E Visa);
foreign citizen fiancé(e) (K-1 Visa), as well as the fiancé(e)'s children (K-2 Visa);,
- A U.S. citizen's foreign citizen spouse traveling to reside in the U.S. while awaiting final completion of the process of immigration (K-3 Visa), as well as the spouse's children (K-4 Visa);
- Spouses of lawful permanent residents (V-1 Visas), as well as the spouse's children who are traveling to reside in the U.S. while awaiting final completion of the process of immigration (V-2 Visas);
- Non-immigrants travelling to the United States for work (Non-Immigrant Visas), including:
- Canadian government officials (A Visas), if entering the U.S. for temporary or permanent assignment;
- Officials and employees of international organizations (G Visas), if entering the U.S. for temporary or permanent assignment; and
- NATO officials, representatives, and employees, only if they are being assigned to the U.S. (as opposed to an official trip).
Furthermore, Canadians who have been removed from the United States or who have a criminal record, including for driving under the influence, will need to follow a separate set of procedures to enter the country.
Source: http://canada.usembassy.gov/visas/information-for-canadians/canadians-requiring-visas.html
I have entered the US on a Canadian passport from some other country (eg South Africa, Chile, etc) on more than one occasion. The decision to admit you or not is based on your citizenship, any US visas you have already applied for, your relevant travel history (eg you have been denied admission to the US in the past), and your stated reason for this visit along with whatever information, paperwork, and possessions supports or denies that stated reason.
I won't go so far as to say it's irrelevant where you're coming from. It's possible that coming from some places could lead an officer to suspect you are not coming for your stated reason. But it's awfully close to irrelevant. There is not a rule that says "admit if coming from X but not if coming from Y" for example.
