Are you thinking of claiming asylum in Canada during the covid pandemic?
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en français -- en espagnol
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Dear Visitor
Hello! Welcome to our information page. Bridges Not Borders is a small group of Canadian volunteers who live in the area near Roxham Road in southern Quebec. Since the COVID border closure in March 2020 we have been providing information on the border situation and the rules for asylum seekers who want to enter Canada. We receive many emails and sometimes we will refer you to another organisation that can better help you.
We answer emails three days a week and not on weekends. Please be aware of the following:
Please read the following information carefully before deciding to contact us. (bridgesnotborders.ca@gmail.com)
If you tell others about us, please share the link to the main information page and NOT our email address.
We update this page as soon as new information becomes available!
Hello! Welcome to our information page. Bridges Not Borders is a small group of Canadian volunteers who live in the area near Roxham Road in southern Quebec. Since the COVID border closure in March 2020 we have been providing information on the border situation and the rules for asylum seekers who want to enter Canada. We receive many emails and sometimes we will refer you to another organisation that can better help you.
We answer emails three days a week and not on weekends. Please be aware of the following:
- We are not lawyers and cannot advise you, but sometimes we can refer you to a Canadian refugee lawyer
- We can't advise you on your asylum claim.
- We don't know when or if Roxham Road will open in the future.
- We know that life is really difficult for you, and it is even worse since the border closure, but unfortunately the help we can offer is limited.
Please read the following information carefully before deciding to contact us. (bridgesnotborders.ca@gmail.com)
If you tell others about us, please share the link to the main information page and NOT our email address.
We update this page as soon as new information becomes available!
IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE ALREADY MADE AN ASYLUM CLAIM IN THE US
If you have applied for asylum in the USA (or in the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Australia) you are no longer entitled to the full independent refugee determination process in Canada. Instead you only have access to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) hearing conducted by a government official. You will be able to have a lawyer or immigration consultant present with you. You need to be aware that the PRRA is a less thorough process and has a lower success rate (about 40%) than the refugee process. However, if you are successful you will be recognized as either a refugee or a protected person in Canada. ** Please consult a Canadian refugee lawyer before attempting to enter Canada.
If you have applied for asylum in the USA (or in the United Kingdom, New Zealand or Australia) you are no longer entitled to the full independent refugee determination process in Canada. Instead you only have access to a Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRRA) hearing conducted by a government official. You will be able to have a lawyer or immigration consultant present with you. You need to be aware that the PRRA is a less thorough process and has a lower success rate (about 40%) than the refugee process. However, if you are successful you will be recognized as either a refugee or a protected person in Canada. ** Please consult a Canadian refugee lawyer before attempting to enter Canada.
The following information is valid until 21 November 2021:
Note: Asylum seekers who qualify to enter Canada do not need to be vaccinated.
1. CROSSING AT IRREGULAR POINTS ALONG THE BORDER, LIKE ROXHAM ROAD
2. CROSSING AT AN OFFICIAL LAND PORT OF ENTRY (Like St Bernard de Lacolle)
Note: Asylum seekers who qualify to enter Canada do not need to be vaccinated.
- If you do NOT have proof of vaccination you will have to quarantine.
- Proof of vaccination must be in English or French.
- A certified translation in English or French must accompany vaccination proofs in other languages.
1. CROSSING AT IRREGULAR POINTS ALONG THE BORDER, LIKE ROXHAM ROAD
- If you cross irregularly and are arrested, you will (with some exceptions) be sent back to the US, BUT you will be given a document that says you can return to Canada to continue your asylum claim, when you are contacted by Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). CBSA are slowly contacting people, but it can take some time.
- PLEASE NOTE you may be put in immigration detention in the US, and, depending on your situation, you may be put in removal proceedings (to be sent back to your home country).
- The following people will NOT be sent back to the US and should be able to make a refugee claim after irregular entry:
- US citizens;
- Stateless persons who have lived for some time (habitually) in the US and can prove this;
- Unmarried unaccompanied children (under 18 years of age) without a parent or legal guardian in the US.
- Immigration officers (CBSA) also have the discretionary power to admit to Canada people who may be subject to the death penalty - To update your contact information with CBSA - if you have already been sent back to the USA after crossing irregularly into Canada: Call CBSA on 1-833-995-0002, Monday to Friday between 7:00 am to 3:00pm Eastern Time. This is to make sure that CBSA can contact your to give you an appointment at a Port of Entry to continue your asylum claim. NOTE: if you have been sent back to the USA, and you go to the border without an appointment, you will again be sent back temporarily to the USA. ** See the CBSA website HERE
2. CROSSING AT AN OFFICIAL LAND PORT OF ENTRY (Like St Bernard de Lacolle)
- If you are seeking asylum in Canada AND you meet one of the exceptions to the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA), you can go to an official land Port of Entry to make a refugee claim.
- FIRST make sure you fit under an exception to the STCA and, if necessary, know how to prove a family relationship. See information on the Canadian government website HERE.
- If you are allowed to enter Canada to make a refugee claim you will have to remain in isolation for 14 days unless you can prove complete vaccination (see above).
- You are strongly advised to consult a refugee lawyer or specialist organization before going to a Port of Entry. You can call/write: 1. Romero House in Toronto, Ontario to obtain the name of a reliable refugee lawyer: 416.763.1303 or info@romerohouse.org and 2. Viva La Casa in Buffalo, New York to get advice about STCA exceptions on 716.892.4354 or viveinfo@jrchc.org
- IMPORTANT: If you DO NOT meet an exception under the STCA you will be sent back to the US. Unless you are able to challenge this decision, you will not be able to apply for asylum in Canada again.
- PLEASE NOTE you may be put in immigration detention in the US, and, depending on your situation, you may be put in removal proceedings (to be sent back to your home country).
Please go to these pages for more information on the current situation from:
April 2021
The Canada-US Cross border network has produced a second press release providing information on the border situation.
It is available HERE in Arabic, English, French, Kreole, Lingala, Portuguese and Spanish.
- the UN Refugee Agency in Canada: UNHCR
- the Government of Canada: Govt of Canada
April 2021
The Canada-US Cross border network has produced a second press release providing information on the border situation.
It is available HERE in Arabic, English, French, Kreole, Lingala, Portuguese and Spanish.
HELP IN THE USA
- We work closely with Plattsburgh Cares, a volunteer organization in Plattsburgh (New York State), which gives information and support to people wanting to leave the US to seek asylum in Canada. You can contact them for support at: support@plattsburghcares.org or call them at 518-243-8292 or 518-240-8866.
- Contact the Office for New Americans Hotline for advice on crossing the border on 1-800-566-7636 Website
- You can also contact Diane Noiseux of the Office for New Americans in Plattsburgh ONLY for emergency shelter (for 24-48 hours) on 518-420-7210 . She does not provide legal information or updates on the border situation.
