JohnnyCanuck

verbally told me to only declare anything over $10K.

Sounds like a trap to me.

By "declaring" I'm not necessarily saying an itemized list of every tiny item you bought, especially if you're under any limits. But I would be prepared to show all of it if asked. All it takes is one border guard having a bad day to make a difference.

And expressly going to another country to buy a product outside the limits and then sneak it back in to avoid duties is entirely different than some souvenir trinkets and candy.

If you declare the laptop, the border guard might just wave you through without making you pay the duty. If you don't, and they catch you in a lie, good luck.

As I and others have mentioned elsewhere, you're taking a risk doing this, as if you get caught it will cost you more.

One other thing to keep in mind is warranties if anything goes wrong with the item. If you are trying to make it look like you brought the item with you, you'll be getting rid of all the documentation and packaging that proves you purchased it. That includes receipts. Warranties often require proof of purchase, so you may be throwing away your warranty by doing this.

Also, keep in mind that models and model numbers are often different in Canada. I've had phones that were identical to the US model but had a different model number. I've also had phones where they sold the European version in Canada (again with its own model number) and so it was basically a different phone from what you'd get in the States for the same model name (different CPU, different supported communication protocols.)

Often our model numbers will get a "CA" added to the end making it obvious. Sometimes it won't be obvious, but won't match model numbers you can easily find info for online. My current laptop model number is undiscoverable online because it is so rare. There are similar ones for which the info mostly matches my computer, but I'm not always able to find good info.

It's kind of funny watching Americans talk about this now as it was something we Canadians used to talk about all the time... Strategies for buying goods in the US to save money.

I really don't like the way this is worded. It sounds like you're saying that going across the border and buying a "personal" item and not declaring it is just fine.

Yes it is perfectly legal to go across the border and buy something and bring it back (assuming we're talking about legal goods here, not drugs or contraband items, obviously.)

But you must declare those items. If you get caught pretending it was an item you brought with you but you actually purchased across the border, you may be fined. When you are asked a bunch of questions by the border guard, they're looking for signs you're lying. If they get a whiff you're lying or uncomfortable, they'll start digging. If they catch you trying to avoid paying the duties on a laptop, not only will you have to pay the duties, you may have to pay a fine on top of that, not to mention every future border crossing you make may be more difficult. If they catch you trying to cheat they are way more likely to implement a fine and put a note on your file.

There are (for now) certain amounts of money you can spend when you cross the border, which changes based on how long you've been gone, for which you won't be charged duties - but you still have to accurately declare what you've spent!

I don't think all of the gang members being deported from the US are wearing the tattoos so boldly. They probably had to be a bit more subtle than that in the US than in Venezuela or El Salvador (before last year).

Look at these 5 guys from 2023 https://www.foxnews.com/us/five-suspected-ms-13-gang-members-us-illegally-charged-murder-death-maryland-15-year-old

Or these three from 2018: https://www.foxnews.com/us/3-ms-13-gang-members-who-took-turns-shooting-suspected-rival-sentenced-to-prison-for-murder

Or all of these ones from 2021: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2021/08/06/illegal-alien-ms-13-gang-members-indicted-for-murders-kidnappings/

It's going to be hard to find subtle versions of the tattoos with image search since they all give the same results of blatant face tattoos.

Thanks. I think I've actually played through this one before, but I'm sick today and it was good to waste my time while lying in bed

"Knuckle tattoo" is the common term for tattoos on the back of the fingers like that.

The annotations are bullshit tho

How so? Marijuana, Smile are pretty clear, the cross you can see in place of 1 on other MS13 tattoos (using image search of MS13 tattoos).

The only one I'm not sure of is the skull, but the available image is a bit blurry. Maybe the 2 eye holes plus the nose hole?

It's so obvious that the letters and numbers are there to show what the tattooed symbols represent. I feel like I'm in bizarro world that people don't understand that and think they've found some smoking gun.

It doesn't change the need for due process, but come on people.

"The Manchurian Candidate"

Yeah boiii!

I was wondering if it's a miner...

So, this is an odd one because I travel a lot and try to learn basic words in local languages, usually hello, please, thank you, sorry/excuse me, and numbers are my basic go to. For some reason, in a number of languages "please" isn't something you get by default. I've found this particularly in southeast Asia.

I can say please and thank you (and generally converse and read) in French and Spanish. In Spanish I find myself using "por favor" a lot. "You're welcome" takes different forms in Spanish depending where your are, and what's polite in one place can be confusing or even rude in another.

I can say hello, please, and thank you in German, Italian, and Greek. I mostly said hello and thank you in Greece and Italy, rarely please. I've never actually used German in situ, I just know it from pop culture I think.

I can say hello and thank you (and various other things) in Japanese, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay, Thai, Lao, Khmer, and Vietnamese. I might need to think hard for a minute or get a quick refresher so that I don't mix some of them up sometimes, especially when I'm moving from one country to the next... I don't think I ever learned please specifically in any of these, though I think it's kind of built into the other things you say in a lot of them (especially Thai).

So, please and thank you, 6 for sure. But if the goal is to talk about language basics for getting around as a visitor, I would say 13 :)