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April 5, 2005 The following article is excerpted from the 5 April 2005 edition of “The Ottawa Citizen”. The US “Documentary Requirements for Entry to the United States” The days of Canadians flashing birth certificates or driver's licences at the U.S. border may soon be coming to an end. The Bush administration is set to increase security screening of Canadians visiting the United States, including a possible requirement for new travel documents, all part of tough anti-terrorism measures being announced today. Compelled by legislation signed in December by George W. Bush, the U.S. President, the Department of Homeland Security is unveiling a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative that will require "all U.S. citizens and foreign nationals to present a passport or other appropriate secure identity and citizenship document" when entering the United States,…. New documentation requirements will be phased in for Canadians at the end of 2006…. But the United States could require visitors to produce another form of documentation with more security features than those on Canadian driver's licences and birth certificates currently accepted as proof of citizenship and identity at border crossings. One option is a border crossing card,
or "laser visa," which would include some form of biometric
identifier. The cards are already issued to most Mexicans entering the
United Because of its potential impact on
millions of travellers, Washington's plan has come under intense
criticism since the broad policy was sketched out in the Intelligence
Reform & This sets a Jan. 1, 2008, deadline for
Homeland Security to require U.S. citizens to carry a "passport or
other documents, or combination of documents" when re-entering the The bill also ordered the rules be applied to "categories of individuals," including Canadians, who have long had documentation requirements waived under Section 212 of the U.S. Immigration & Nationality Act. "I think this could have a profound impact on the daily traffic between our two peoples and the historic relationship that has existed between the United States and Canada," said John Lafalce, a former U.S. congressman from New York. "I see this as extremely injurious. It could diminish the ability for both American and Canadian citizens to go back and forth across the border significantly." This year, a group of high-profile
American and Canadian academics and businesspeople issued a report
warning the impending requirement could "disrupt cross-border
movement, The Bush administration has been studying the need for more stringent travel documentation since the release of the 9/11 commission report last summer. The report sharply criticized the current rules that allow most Canadians and Americans to travel back and forth between the two countries with minimal identification…. Mr. Lafalce, an advisor to the
Canadian-American Business Council, said the tougher identification
requirements were unlikely to have a significant impact on businesses
engaged Many companies already take part in
the Nexus program, a Canada-U.S. initiative, which speeds up border
crossings for low-risk business travellers with a special photo Click here for a Canadian Passport Application Form (Adobe reader required)
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