The U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement came into effect on December 29, 2004 and after the Federal Court of Appeal ruling remains in force. The agreement substantially changed the rules for people in the U.S. coming to Canada and making a refugee claim at the Canadian-United States border. The Agreement also applied to individuals in Canada who wanted to make an asylum claim in the United States.

For many refugees, the Safe Third Country Agreement means that if they are in the U.S. and applies at a land port of entry to Canada and make a claim for refugee status they will be denied admission by Canadian Immigration officials unless they fall under one of the exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement.

The Safe Third Country Agreement also applies to entry to Canada by train and also at airports, only if the person seeking refugee protection in Canada has been refused refugee status in the U.S. and is in transit through Canada after being deported from the U.S.

If the refugee claimant, however, qualifies for one of the exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement, they can still make a refugee claim in Canada.

The Agreement does not apply to U.S. citizens or habitual residents of the U.S. who are not citizens of any country (“stateless persons”). American citizens accordingly can make asylum claim in Canada.

FAMILY EXCEPTION

If you have a close family relative who is a citizen, a permanent resident, protected person or approved in principle for landing, you can qualify for an exception. You also may qualify if the relative is in the country on a legal work permit or student visa. You also may qualify if the relative is in the country and has a refugee claim that has not been rejected, withdrawn or abandoned. The relative must be:

• A spouse or common-law partner
• A legal guardian
• A child
• A father or mother
• A brother or sister
• A grandfather or grandmother
• A grandchild
• An uncle or aunt
• A nephew or niece

To qualify for an exception as a common-law partner the person (of the same or opposite sex) with whom the refugee claimant is cohabiting in a conjugal relationship must have cohabited for at least a year.

UNACCOMPANIED MINORS EXCEPTION

Refugee claimants may qualify under this category of exceptions if they are minors (under the age of 18) who:

* are not accompanied by their mother, father or legal guardian

* have neither a spouse nor a common-law partner, and

* do not have a mother, a father or a legal guardian in Canada or the United States.

PUBLIC INTEREST OR SUSPENDED REMOVALS COUNTRY EXCEPTION

A further qualification for exemption to the Safe Third Country rule is if the claimant is a citizen of a country to which Canada has temporarily suspended removals. However, a temporary suspension of removals does not apply to individuals who are determined to be inadmissible to Canada on grounds of security, violating human or international rights, or criminality.

Currently, Canada has imposed a temporary suspension of removals on the following eight countries:

• Afghanistan
• Burundi
• Democratic Rep. of Congo
• Haiti
• Iraq
• Liberia
• Rwanda
• Zimbabwe

Note: This list of countries may be subject to change. This list should serve as a guide only and is not intended to be an official acknowledgment of country conditions.

DOCUMENT HOLDER EXCEPTIONS

Refugee claimants may qualify under this category of exceptions if they:

# hold a valid Canadian visa (other than a transit visa)

# hold a valid work permit

# hold a valid study permit

# hold a travel document (for permanent residents or refugees) or other valid admission

document issued by Canada, or

# are not required (exempt) to get a temporary resident visa to enter Canada but require an U.S.–issued visa to enter the U.S.

Accordingly the Safe Third Country exclusions do not apply if you have a valid visa to enter Canada, other than a transit visa. You can also qualify for the exception if you come from a country for whose citizens Canada does not require a visa but the U.S. does. These countries currently are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Botswana, Cyprus, Greece, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Papua New Guinea, Republic of (South) Korea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Solomon Islands, Swaziland, and Western Samoa.

STATELESS EXCEPTION

Individuals who are Stateless and who have no country also are exempt from the Safe Third Country Agreement. Only individuals who have countries are covered under the Safe Third Country Agreement and stateless individuals therefore are excluded from the Agreement and can make an asylum claim in Canada.

TO QUALIFY FOR EXCEPTIONS

When the refugee claimant arrives at the border, they must be able to prove that they qualify for one of the exceptions to be admitted. An Immigration officer will interview the claimant to see if they meet any of the exceptions.

Giving false information to an Immigration officer can have very serious consequences. If the claimant gives false information to meet one of the exceptions under Canadian law if Citizenship and Immigration Canada later finds out that the claimant did not give accurate information they can take away the right to make a refugee claim under section 104(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

ONLY APPLIES AT LAND ENTRY

The U.S.-Canada Safe Third Country Agreement only applies to refugee claimants making a refugee claim at a land port of entry or entering by train. The exclusion rules does not apply if the claimant arrives by air (transit visas do not qualify) or by water. Claims made at an airport, port or ferry landing are not affected by the Safe Third Country Agreement, even though the claimant has arrived from the United States.

The Safe Third Country Agreement also does not apply to claims made inside Canada.

If the claimant meets one of the exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement they can make a claim in Canada even if they have applied for asylum in the US and that claim has not been finalized and even if they have been rejected.

PRE-REMOVAL RISK ASSESSMENT

Note that even if you meet an exception to the Safe Third Country Agreement you may still be ineligible to make a refugee claim in Canada. For example if you have previously made a refugee claim and have withdrawn it or have been rejected. However, you still may be able to enter Canada and make a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment or PRRA Application. This procedure gives failed refugee claimants a second chance at obtaining the protection of Canada.

You are also not eligible if you have been granted refugee protection by another country, or if you are inadmissible on criminality or security grounds.

The link to the Canadian Government web page on the Safe Third Country Agreement is; http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/agency-agence/stca-etps-eng.html

WHERE TO GET HELP

There are a number of agencies that can help refugee claimants who may want to come to Canada for protection or make an asylum claim in the United States. In Detroit they can contact Freedom House, Detroit, Tel. 313-964-4320 ext*833. Their email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Their web site is, www.freedomhousedetroit.org. In Buffalo claimants can contact VIVE, Buffalo, Tel. 716-892-4354, www.vivelacasa.org. In Vermont they can contact Vermont Refugee Assistance: Tel. 802-223-6840, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.vermontrefugeeassistance.org.

In Toronto Canada refugees can contact Hamilton House, Toronto, Tel. 416-469-9754, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (for people destined to Toronto), www.fcjsisters.ca/HamiltonHouse

Arabic speaking refugee claimants in Toronto can contact the Arab Community Centre 555 Burnathorpe Road Suite 209, Etobicoke, Ontario, telephone 416-231-7746 or contact Palestine House 3195 Erindale Station Road Mississauga, Ontario, telephone 905-270-3622.

In Quebec claimants can contact the Committee to Aid Refugees, Montreal, Tel. 514-272-6060, ext 5, email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The information above is a brief summary of the main provisions of the Safe Third Country Agreement. For full details, consult the Canadian Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations , and the text of the Safe Third Country Agreement signed on December 5, 2002 or the United States Immigration and Naturalization Act and related Regulations or consult an Immigration and refugee lawyer.

Edward C. Corrigan is a lawyer certified as a Specialist in Citizenship and Immigration Law and Immigration and Refugee Protection by the Law Society of Upper Canada in London, Ontario, Canada. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (519) 439-4015.