Badenoch

Seems elderly Canadians catching connecting flights are coming under scrutiny in America.

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/ca...rder-officials

Is this accurate? I often connect through the U.S.A. and have never been fingerprinted.

GUWonder

Did it happen to include use of a UK/non-Canadian passport, as it sounds like at least one of them is from the UK?

Perhaps they are amongst the minority of Canadians who require an I-94 or require a waiver of admissibility to enter the US?

Those were the main exceptions where I recall Canadian citizens being asked to give fingerprints and photos as part of US-VISIT.

That said, I have also seen CBP try to get some US citizens with presented US passports to give their fingerprints when using staffed counters at US ports of entry. Sometimes it was claimed by CBP to be a joke, but I'm not all that sure about it being a joke.

Badenoch

Not according to the article and have been Canadian citizens for over 40 years.

Unlikely.

MSPeconomist

Have been citizens of Canada for 40 years and elderly would seem to mean that they are/were citizens of at least one other country too. Where were they born? This would be indicated on the passport they used.

Badenoch

The article notes they were born in the UK but used Canadian passports for the visit.

GUWonder

The article does indeed state they used Canadian passports, but the article also indicates a UK connection before becoming a Canadian citizen. Perhaps a UK place of birth in the Canadian passport was one of the things that prompted this?

While it may be that they aren't part of the small minority of Canadians needing an I-94 or waiver of admissibility to enter the US, it is indeed unlikely. But even if they were, something doesn't add up if they were part of that minority and treated as an exception due to needing an I-94 or waiver of admissibility to enter the US.

Some people who have frequently traveled to/via the US are sometimes surprised to get by something new that didn't hit them before even if it was a possibility. It could be that the CBP employee was just pushing to see if they were really Canadians who frequently traveled the US and would seem surprised by the request for the fingerprints. It is something I've seen some CBP employees try to do to some US citizens whom they tried to treat as if foreigners -- including by using the word for "finger" in a foreign language with which the US citizen was suspected to know and asking for fingerprints and photos at the staffed counter.

guflyer

Just to clarify, do US citizens have a right to avoid providing fingerprints if asked? What happens if they decline?

Also, from the article:

"But in an email response, CBP spokesman Jaime Ruiz said the practice is routine and sweeping.

“Collecting biometrics and photos of all foreign visitors arriving at U.S. international airports is standard operating procedure,” he stated."

Has this been standard operating procedure for Canadians as well or were they previously excluded? Is there a specific regulation stating what the practice should be?

Bogwoppit

I am Canadian, British by birth, I travel to the US on my Canadian passport quite often and I have never been fingerprinted.

reclusive46

Same. Only time I'm fingerprinted is when using Global entry (obviously). Sounds like the CBP officer didn't know that Canadians don't need an i94 or need to provide biometrics.

kwflyer

It's likely the CBP officer forgot that Canadian passport holders are exempt from fingerprinting/photo taking (except for denials/secondary referrals which doesn't seem to be the case) since CBP has access to CPIC and therefore does not need biometrics to conduct an primary inspection. In return, Americans are not subjected to being fingerprinted at primary either (with CBSA having access to FBI files and various US police agency databases).

Given that there are few Canadian flights from SLC (and those from Canada will have likely pre cleared) I can see this happening (I've seen CBSA erroneously stamp Canadian's passports at certain POE known to be foreign heavy)

A better response would have been ''Is this required for Canadians / Its my understanding that Canadians are exempt from this'' which I've seen effectively used before. That, or calling for a supervisor. But they were likely too deferential to speak up.

But CBP collecting biometrics on all foreign visitors has been going on for a long time. Canada does the same, but not at primary.

GUWonder

CBP doesn't collect biometrics on all foreign visitors. Most Canadians and some other visitors are exempted from such CBP collection.

yandosan

Do they really need to fingerprint people who are just on connecting flights
and have no intention of staying in the United States?
Is that part of some worldwide fingerprint database?
I just don't get it. I never get treated like that in other countries.

redadeco

When you transit through US airports in between 2 international flights you're effectively entering the country, nothing prohibits connecting travellers from staying in the US once they clear immigration and customs.

There's no international transit area in place in the US.

kwflyer

CBP uses fingerprints to run real time background checks on government databases to determine eligibility (usually criminal records) and make it easier to identify and convict suspects in crimes, down the road. Those with information sharing agreements (i.e. Canada) would be exempted. Each country is free to make their own rules

kwflyer

Curious, what other countries (besides Canada) are exempt (besides diplomats and the like).

It's important to remember that biometrics does include photos. With the prevalence of biometric passports now, you have to assume your photo is being accessed/stored each time a country swipes your passport (this is the case with CBSA). Including using automated kiosks.