Elisabeth Heslop
An evening at the movies or dinner across the border still might be an option after Monday (June 1), even if you don’t have the proper travel documents—but only for a short period of time.
On Monday, the United States is implementing the land and sea phase of its Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI). However, border officers are going to be a bit lenient at first, according to a press release from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Under the new regulations, U.S. and Canadian citizens entering the States by land or sea, including inland water bodies such as Rainy Lake, must have a “WHTI-approved document.”
Approved documents include passports, enhanced driver’s licences, and trusted traveller cards such as NEXUS.
Ontario residents now can apply for an enhanced driver’s licence at one of nine ServiceOntario centres (the closest of which is in Thunder Bay).
“We encourage travellers to obtain and use their WHTI-approved documents now to expedite their border crossing and make our borders more secure,” said Michele James, director of Field Operations Seattle for the CBP, adding that “CBP will be practical and flexible in implementing this new travel requirement.”
The press release explained that “U.S. and Canadian citizens who lack WHTI-compliant documents, but are otherwise admissible, will not be denied entry into the United States on June 1, and are encouraged to continue with their travel plans and to obtain facilitative and secure WHTI travel documents as soon as possible.”
The leniency to be shown at the border is not really a “grace period,” as Mike Milne of the CBP explained, but “for an indefinite period of time, we will not be penalizing people who maybe haven’t heard of the new regulations.”
“We really don’t anticipate a problem as most people crossing the U.S./Canada border already have WHTI-compliant documents,” he added.
The new requirements may seem fairly straight-forward, but for people who are crossing the border by pleasure boat, there also are several options for making the crossing easier.
But this can get rather confusing when you consider there are three options for entering the U.S. and three different ones for entering Canada.
Marty Eide, port director at International Falls, explained the three options for entering the U.S. by boat in this area are OARS, I-68, and NEXUS.
OARS, or the Outlying Area Reporting Station, is a videophone reporting location at Bohman’s Landing in International Falls. Boaters who don’t have an I-68 permit or a NEXUS card must report to the CBP using the videophone before continuing on to their destination.
The WHTI document requirements will be the same as if someone was crossing the border by land.
The I-68 permit, which lasts for one boating season, allows the user to report to the CBP by telephone when they reach the U.S. without having to go to Bohman’s Landing first.
Until now, said Eide, applicants for the I-68 have not needed a passport or other such document to get the permit, but that will change on June 1.
“You are now going to need a WHTI-approved document to get it,” he stressed, though adding people who got their I-68 permit before the June 1 deadline won’t have to get a new one for the rest of this season.
The I-68 permit allows easier border crossings, when everyone in the boat has one, but it is not sufficient to satisfy the new WHTI document regulations.
“You are still going to need your documents,” Eide said.
For boaters who want to combine fast border crossings with WHTI-approved documents, there is the third option: NEXUS.
A NEXUS card is valid for five years and, like the I-68, allows telephone reporting to the CBP, though again only if everyone in the boat has it.
Upon returning to Canada, boaters again have three options for reporting their entry into the country.
According to Annamaria D’Angelo of the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), boaters returning to Canada from across the lake are required to report to a “designated marine reporting site.”
These are located at the Sorting Gap Marina and the Can-Op gas station (Rainy Lake Sports and Tackle). Once there, boaters must call the CBSA office at the international bridge and an officer will be sent down to the dock to clear them.
The other two options, which help boaters get back into Canada faster, are a Remote Area Border Crossing Permit (RABC) or a NEXUS card.
With an RABC, boaters who have no goods to report can proceed to their destination, such as their cabin on the lake, and phone the CANPASS Telephone Reporting Centre (TRC) to report their entry into the country once they get there.
D’Angelo said that “CBSA monitors the RABC permit system with random checks on the water.”
If RABC holders have goods to declare, they must phone the CBSA office prior to leaving the United States.
The other option is to have a NEXUS card. NEXUS holders must phone the TRC at least 30 minutes, and no more than four hours, before entering Canada.
“TRC would then alert CBSA if they wanted us to examine these travellers,” D’Angelo explained.
When the boaters arrive in Canada, they must report to one of the marine reporting sites. But if a CBSA officer is not present at the dock when they arrive, they may continue on to their destination.
Again, if the boaters have goods to declare, they must do so before leaving the U.S.
The catch to both the RABC and NEXUS programs is that for a boatload of people to take advantage of them, every person must be in possession of a permit or a card.
That means that not only must the person have a valid RABC permit or NEXUS card, but it must be physically in the boat with them at the time of entry into Canada.
If even one passenger does not possess the necessary document, or does not have their document with them in the boat, the entire boatload must go to the designated reporting site so that individuals can check in physically with a CBSA officer.
For more information on the regulations for entering into Canada from the U.S., visit the CBSA’s website at www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca
For more on the regulations for crossing to the U.S., visit www.cbp.gov
In related news, Mark Bysfield, deputy consul general for the U.S. Consulate in Toronto, will be visiting Fort Frances on June 1—the day the new regulations take effect—to speak with the mayor about the WHTI.
