penguin
3rd Nov 2002, 12:54
From www.cbc.ca
Last Updated Sun, 03 Nov 2002 0:15:09
OTTAWA - Washington is preparing new regulations that would make it harder for citizens of most Commonwealth countries to get into the United States.
Under the proposed rules, any Commonwealth citizen who lives in Canada but who is not a Canadian citizen will need valid travel documents to enter the U.S.
Right now, Canadian citizens do not require passports or other papers to pass through customs. Most people born in other Commonwealth countries who now live here enjoy the same ease of passage when heading south.
But the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has drafted a new policy that will force visitors who are not Canadian citizens to produce travel documents.
According to an internal INS report obtained by CBC News, the United States will soon require valid passports from travellers living in Canada who are actually citizens of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Foreign nationals living in Canada from about 50 other Commonwealth countries will need both a passport and a visa to enter the United States. This proposal includes citizens of India, Pakistan, South Africa, Jamaica, and Trinidad.
The new rules are part of increased security measures since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. They're designed to help safeguard the country from terrorists, according to the INS document.
"They're just creating and inventing rules left, right and centre," says Heather Segal, the head of the Canadian chapter of the U.S. Immigration Lawyers' Association. "They're creating backlogs. It's a big problem."
Some people in Canada are annoyed about the proposed new rules, including athletes who travel a lot.
"A Commonwealth country is a Commonwealth country," complains Troy Rose, a landed immigrant from Australia. "We're not evil, we're not bad, we're not, you know, bombers or anything like that."
But the INS document says some Commonwealth countries have high rates of "immigration fraud and abuse," and tougher security measures are required to fight terrorism.
An official at the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa described the regulations as "disappointing and unpalatable," but no official protest is planned until the proposals take effect.
FROM OCT. 31, 2002: U.S. backs down on photographing, fingerprinting some Canadians
Last month, Washington backed down from a plan to begin fingerprinting some Canadian citizens who travel to the U.S. The new rules would have applied to people born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria or Sudan.
Last Updated Sun, 03 Nov 2002 0:15:09
OTTAWA - Washington is preparing new regulations that would make it harder for citizens of most Commonwealth countries to get into the United States.
Under the proposed rules, any Commonwealth citizen who lives in Canada but who is not a Canadian citizen will need valid travel documents to enter the U.S.
Right now, Canadian citizens do not require passports or other papers to pass through customs. Most people born in other Commonwealth countries who now live here enjoy the same ease of passage when heading south.
But the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) has drafted a new policy that will force visitors who are not Canadian citizens to produce travel documents.
According to an internal INS report obtained by CBC News, the United States will soon require valid passports from travellers living in Canada who are actually citizens of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Foreign nationals living in Canada from about 50 other Commonwealth countries will need both a passport and a visa to enter the United States. This proposal includes citizens of India, Pakistan, South Africa, Jamaica, and Trinidad.
The new rules are part of increased security measures since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. They're designed to help safeguard the country from terrorists, according to the INS document.
"They're just creating and inventing rules left, right and centre," says Heather Segal, the head of the Canadian chapter of the U.S. Immigration Lawyers' Association. "They're creating backlogs. It's a big problem."
Some people in Canada are annoyed about the proposed new rules, including athletes who travel a lot.
"A Commonwealth country is a Commonwealth country," complains Troy Rose, a landed immigrant from Australia. "We're not evil, we're not bad, we're not, you know, bombers or anything like that."
But the INS document says some Commonwealth countries have high rates of "immigration fraud and abuse," and tougher security measures are required to fight terrorism.
An official at the Foreign Affairs Department in Ottawa described the regulations as "disappointing and unpalatable," but no official protest is planned until the proposals take effect.
FROM OCT. 31, 2002: U.S. backs down on photographing, fingerprinting some Canadians
Last month, Washington backed down from a plan to begin fingerprinting some Canadian citizens who travel to the U.S. The new rules would have applied to people born in Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria or Sudan.