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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?

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    what makes you think you can't? Nov 4, 2015 at 16:37
  • I'm.... Not sure actually. I'm not familiar with obtaining visas at all, since I've never needed them...
    – Nelson
    Nov 4, 2015 at 16:40
  • Only a problem really if you also have US citizenship
    – blackbird
    Nov 4, 2015 at 17:14

2 Answers 2

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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

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  • Perfect. Government info puts any concerns I have to rest.
    – Nelson
    Nov 8, 2015 at 14:26
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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.

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  • They know where you're coming from anyway, so not "admitting" it would be pretty silly. In the fairly unlikely event they ask about it, you should make sure you have a reasonable explanation for your itinerary. Nov 4, 2015 at 18:41
  • @ZachLipton they don't necessarily know where you are coming from. They presumably know where you checked in for your flight, but they don't know how long you were there. For example, if you fly from Cuba via another country, on separate tickets, they have no way of knowing you were in Cuba.
    – phoog
    Nov 4, 2015 at 19:21
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    @ZachLipton: The word "admit" in the answer refers to the border officers's decision to admit the traveler into the US or not, not to whether the traveler should tell the truth or not. Nov 4, 2015 at 20:15
  • @HenningMakholm Got it. I was interpreting it in the latter sense where someone would be tempted to lie about where they are coming from. If they had some suspicion about you and found souvenirs or whatever from another country you claimed you didn't visit, then they'd really suspect you. Nov 4, 2015 at 21:57

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