Canadian travellers required to register with U.S. if in country over 30 days

Canadian and U.S. flags fly atop the Peace Arch monument at the Douglas-Peace Arch border crossing in Surrey, B.C., Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

Travelling to the U.S. for many people just got a bit more complicated.

The American government now requires visitors staying for 30 days or more to register or face stiff penalties, including jail time.

The new rules – along with the trade war – have some snowbirds reconsidering their plans for next winter.

“You know, it’s their country,” Salmon Arm, B.C., resident Philip Briddon told CTV News on Friday from Palm Springs, Calif., where he and his wife have regularly vacationed since 2008.

“They can do what they want. It’s a little bit odd and insulting, but that’s the way it is.”

It’s not just the fact the new paperwork has to be filled in, but some people feel it’s unnecessarily detailed.

“My husband just did the paperwork,” said Judy Thomson, a snowbird who owns a home in Florida.

“There was a lot to the paperwork. It was kind of intrusive. Your father, where were they born? Your mother’s maiden name, et cetera,” she said. “Why are they asking all this?”

Palm Springs is doing its best to make peace with a Palm Springs Loves Canada campaign, which features flags hanging off poles in the community.

But given the totality of the situation, Briddon and his wife will be going somewhere different in the fall.

“We’ve got a trip planned for Australia at some point in our lives, and that may get accelerated,” Briddon said. “We might go to Australia for a month. We might go to New Zealand again. We enjoyed that very much.”

The consequences for those not in compliance are potentially serious.

“Failure to comply with this is a crime, punishable by fines, imprisonment or both,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt announced on Friday.

“As President Trump and Secretary (Kristi) Noem have both said, if you register and you leave now, you choose to self-deport. You may have the opportunity to return later legally.”

For those following the situation, there are concerns Canadians could get caught up in enforcement.

“For me, who’s been practising U.S. immigration law in Blaine for almost 25 years, it’s surreal, and what it’s doing is it’s effectively killing any tourism to this country,” said Len Saunders, an immigration lawyer based in Blaine, Wash.

The new rules mean visitors must register and carry proof of registration at all times – with penalties ranging from a $5,000 fine to six months in jail.