My experience with the border guards is:
1) Have lots of paper work.
Genus/species
(possible history of fish... but this may be over-doing it)
Person receiving purchased items
Cost of fish
Cost per person
Dealer
Dealer contact
Date & Time of purchase
Agreement signed by all persons "Group-buying"
Agreement to not re-sell items purchased (Again, signed)
2) Get ready to spend a few hours
3) Always, and I mean, ALWAYS be courteous. These people have the bed-side manner of a starving shark.
4) Don't fold, stick to your story and be firm with both you and your live-stock are doing crossing the border.
5) Make sure you know all of the details of everything you are bringing across the border. If you try and import something that is illegal and get caught... not only will you be saddled with the bill, but the amount of crap and litigation those border patrol officials can throw at you is staggering. Be ready and don't try and cross with anything that is remotely associated with being illegal/requiring permits.
My experience is:
My fiance is from the US, and when she moved we had to move all of her... stuff as well. This included rare plants, real fur rugs, and antique/colonial furniture. At the same time we had to renew her Visa application. Because we had all of our documentation in line, we were in & out of the border in under 2 hours. I am not an expert in this--nor am I telling you that the above will guarantee a harassment free passage. I'm just saying that if you have all of your ducks in a row... it makes getting through WAY easier.
Horror story:
Unfortunately for the guy trying to bring snow-mobile parts across (he was right infront of us) was missing a parts number for one piece of metal in his box of parts. They made him tear apart the box and assemble everything inside to guarantee all the parts matched the shipping pick-ticket. He was still trying to get ahold of the dealer to get the parts No. When we left the border. He also didn't have any tools to assemble it and was basically ready to just give up and leave the 1000$ worth of parts sitting at the border.
|