Before you travel (everybody should read this!) français - español
This page contains the following information:
- Overview : seeking asylum at the Canadian land border
- Beware of smuggling operations and people charging a lot of money to take you to Canada
- Vaccination and testing
- Keeping warm in spring, autumn and winter
- Keep your identity documents with you
- Preparing to explain your asylum case
- If you have already applied for asylum in the US
- Help in New York State
- Sources of information and services for refugee claimants in Canada
1. Overview: Seeking asylum at the Canadian land border. See detailed information on other pages
- You can make a refugee claim (apply for asylum) at the Canadian border only if you qualify for an exception to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA). This applies to people who:1. go to an official port of entry or 2. cross the border in secret (not at an official Port of Entry), but are arrested by police after crossing and before 14 days have passed. If you do not qualify for an exception, you will be returned to the US. Go HERE to find out if you qualify for an exception
- If you cross in secret and are not detected for 14 days, you can make a refugee claim and you will not be assessed under STCA rules. After 14 days you can present yourself to the authorities or submit a refugee claim on the IRCC portal. You will need to show you have been in Canada for 14 days. It is strongly recommended that you have a refugee lawyer for this process. See sources of help on this PAGE.
- Everyone seeking asylum in Canada must be eligible to make a refugee claim. Some people are not eligible because, for example, they have committed serious crimes or have already been refused asylum in Canada. See ‘Next Steps’ at the bottom of this PAGE to find out more information.
2. If a smuggler or a 'friend' suggests you should pay them money to cross secretly into Canada, it may be not a good idea. Please stop and think about the risks.
In 2022 at least 6 people are known to have died of hypothermia, while trying to cross the US-Canada border clandestinely. In March 2023, eight people – including two small children - drowned while being taken by a smuggler across the border. Over the years, other people have suffered severe frostbite and lost fingers and toes. People engaged in smuggling do not care about your safety. If you do qualify for an exception to the STCA you can enter at any official port of entry.
Read essential information on the STCA page in order to know if you qualify and how to prove it and where to get help.
In 2022 at least 6 people are known to have died of hypothermia, while trying to cross the US-Canada border clandestinely. In March 2023, eight people – including two small children - drowned while being taken by a smuggler across the border. Over the years, other people have suffered severe frostbite and lost fingers and toes. People engaged in smuggling do not care about your safety. If you do qualify for an exception to the STCA you can enter at any official port of entry.
Read essential information on the STCA page in order to know if you qualify and how to prove it and where to get help.
3. Vaccination and Covid Testing
Asylum seekers who enter Canada do not need to be vaccinated or have a negative Covid test.
Asylum seekers who enter Canada do not need to be vaccinated or have a negative Covid test.
4. Dress warmly for the Canadian winter and cold weather in autumn and spring!
Equip yourself and your family with winter coats and boots, hats, scarves, mittens and long underwear. Temperatures can be as low as -30 C or even lower in winter. Hypothermia can set in quickly.
Equip yourself and your family with winter coats and boots, hats, scarves, mittens and long underwear. Temperatures can be as low as -30 C or even lower in winter. Hypothermia can set in quickly.
5. Keep your identity documents with you
Do NOT throw away or destroy your Identity papers (passport, national ID, drivers license, birth certificate). Keep your documents even if they are expired. If you qualify to enter Canada under the rules of the STCA , you must have credible ID documents in order to make a refugee claim and access faster processing at Canadian Immigration (CBSA) at the border. With this process, you will leave CBSA with your refugee claim documents and work permit application started. You will need an email address for the process. People who do not qualify, face long delays in obtaining their documents and work permit.
If you have no ID documents you are at higher risk of being detained.
Do NOT throw away or destroy your Identity papers (passport, national ID, drivers license, birth certificate). Keep your documents even if they are expired. If you qualify to enter Canada under the rules of the STCA , you must have credible ID documents in order to make a refugee claim and access faster processing at Canadian Immigration (CBSA) at the border. With this process, you will leave CBSA with your refugee claim documents and work permit application started. You will need an email address for the process. People who do not qualify, face long delays in obtaining their documents and work permit.
If you have no ID documents you are at higher risk of being detained.
6. Be prepared to explain truthfully why you are seeking asylum
This is very important.
This is very important.
- Why are you afraid to return to your country of origin?
- Have you been persecuted, threatened, wrongly imprisoned or hurt etc.?
- Are you in danger there because of your race, religion, nationality, political views, sex, gender, sexual orientation or family ties?
- Are you at risk of torture or is there a risk to your life or of cruel and inhumane treatment?
7. Have you already made an asylum claim in the United States?
- If you have applied for asylum in the US or any of the other ‘Five Eye’ countries (United Kingdom, New Zealand & Australia), you may no longer be entitled to the full independent refugee process in Canada. Instead you only have access to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) hearing conducted by a government official. If you have a lawyer, you will be able to have the lawyer present with you. The PRRA is a less thorough process and has a much lower success rate than the refugee process. However, if you are successful you will be recognized as a Protected Person in Canada.
- Note: Immigration officers in Canada will determine whether or not you are eligible for the full refugee process by examining bio-metric data (fingerprints and photos) shared among the Five Eye countries. Some asylum seekers, who have submitted claims in one of these countries, have been found eligible in Canada. This suggests that bio-metric sharing is not always consistent. However, if you have submitted an asylum claim or have provided bio-metric information in relation to any other request for protection, it is possible you may be restricted to the PRRA process. As well, some people who are found eligible at the border, are later found to be ineligible and their process is switched from a refugee claim to a PRRA.
- Before entering Canada you are strongly advised to consult a Canadian refugee lawyer. You can contact: 1. FCJ Refugee House to get the name of a lawyer: [email protected] or 416-469-9754 or WhatsApp +1 416-437-217-3786 OR the Canada- US Border Rights Clinic on (289) 273-6466 or +1 855-621-2060 or at [email protected] They provide legal advice but not representation.
8. Help in the United States (New York State)
- Plattsburgh Cares provides some support to asylum seekers in Plattsburgh: [email protected]
- Emergency Shelter: contact Diane Noiseux of the Office for New Americans in Plattsburgh at 518-420-7210
- Free legal advice: NYS Office of New Americans Immigration Hotline: 1-800-566-7636 (many languages)
9. Sources of information for refugee claimants in Canada
- UN Refugee Agency Canada: https://help.unhcr.org/canada/
- Services for Asylum Seekers in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Quebec: https://help.unhcr.org/canada/resources-for-asylum-seekers/
- Information for asylum seekers in Arabic, Creole and Turkish: http://www.bridgesnotborders.ca/info-arabic-creole-turkish.htmlInfo Arabic Creole Turkish
- The Welcome Collective info guide on immigration and refugee claims: https://welcomecollective.zendesk.com/hc/en-ca/categories/360004740531-Immigration