That makes no sense at all. I'm not saying that you are wrong about CLT requiring that, but such a policy makes no sense at all. The I94W form is for visitors from visa waiver countries (hence the "w"), and Canada is specifically not a visa waiver country.

If they really are enforcing this policy continuously, and not just once by happenstance, I suspect that Charlotte gets few enough Canadians clearing immigration that they have never yet figured out the difference between Canada and a visa waiver country. CLT has few enough international flights relative to its size in the first place, and all the Canadian flights are (I believe) pre-cleared in Canada.

I am unable to find any reference anywhere on the US CBP web site to individual ports being able to decide which countries are in the visa waiver program. Can you maybe help us with a reference to that?

I don't have a reference other than can share the same experience as mattm00se.. I was sent to the back of the line to re-fill in the proper form and when I asked why I was told it was port policy. She explained that it is not needed for immediately returning to Canada but otherwise was a requirement at CLT.

Interesting. I once had a minor incident in HNL when an AC agent had mistakenly assumed I was Canadian at check in in SYD. The DHS computer system therefore flagged me as ineligible to enter the US with an I94W. They had to correct the initial error - which was slightly involved - before I could go on my way.

Perhaps CLT uses the I94W for some internal purpose rather than its intended use, but from my experience it would seem that the DHS system will deny you entry if you are Canadian and trying to use the form.

So ... do they keep the entire form, or do they leave the departure portion with you, to be handed in when leaving the country? (The latter is the standard procedure with the I94W.)

I was left with the departure portion and submitted it a few weeks later when flying back from LAS-YVR. The agent did not bat an eye.

Could be a ICE supervisor who doesn't know how to do his job snce the CBP website does state "Entry of Citizens of Canada
Citizens of Canada are exempt from the visa and passport requirement of Immigration and Nationality Act (section 212(a)(7).)" . I've arrived in PIT which saw just a few more international arrivals (back about 6-8 years ago) than CLT a few times and never had any problems.

Some time ago, I emailed an INS email address about the access to the US citizen/resident line (at US ports of entry) to Canadians - no reply. I guess I can call the 1-900- ... .... INS number, which gives general info on visas, entry requirements to USA etc, forms for Canadians to fill out if entering from a nonCanadian border port of entry. It would be nice to have a general INS email address, where there is a likelihood of a timely response - then such a (positive, if possible) response can be considered a documented answer - which can be used if the INS agents denies use of the US line by the Canadian.

I work at CLT in immigration i.e. the person who interprets and tells you what line/officer to go to. In any case I came upon this forum and decided to explain what happens at CLT.

Canada is not a ''Visa-Waiver'' country. If you were the Immigration officials would be fingerprinting you all and taking your picture and you would be required to fill out the GREEN FORM in addition to your Blue Customs Declaration. Additionally a new rule goes in effecti n January for Visa-Waiver participants....you'll have to log online 72 hours before boarding your plane and register electronically, so CBP will know who you are and what you're about before simply jumping on the plane.

I repeat this only applies to countries in the Visa-Waiver program. Canada isn't in that program!

Yes it is true that you don't need a Visa to come to the US though if you are Canadian. However, Canadians are in a different category pretty much. Anyways, following 9/11 when CBP began cracking down on immigration and illegal aliens they discovered many Canadians came to the United States and just never went home. As a result at CLT they make Canadians who are staying overnight fill out the I-94 form unless they have tickets going to Canada or to a border city. They want accountability and have a record that the Canadian national did leave the US.

This rule has changed back and forth many times at CLT, so it is a little gray. Three years ago we didn't make Canadians do this, then it tirned into if you're going to be in the US more than 7 jours you have to fill it out. Then it became if you're only driving across the border or staying over 7 hours in the US. Then it became only if you are spending the night in the US.

This is where the policy stands right now. If you are staying overnight in the US...it doesn't matter if its a hotel in the border city or spending the night in the airport you have to fill out the form. Leave lines 9 and 10 blank because those are City Where Visa Was Issued and Date Issued of Visa, respectively.....and DING DING you guys don't have Visa even though you're using the Visa Form.

This is a fight pretty much everyday with Canadians over filling out these forms. I understand you guys probably haven't done it other places, but realize every port of entry and general area has its own director. As its been explained to me, the port has some flexibility in terms of how they carry out things and implement things.

Oh and by the way about slipping into line with the USCs...do so at your own risk. Again every airport is different, its best to ask first rather assume as its up the port to decide how they want to handle passengers. Some Airports have special lines for Diplomats, Permanent Residents, Canadians etc. Other airports let US Citizens and Residents go together, and let Canadians process in US lines or give them their own official/unofficial lines or have special Apec Cardholder lines.

In CLT, there's no profential treatment for Canadian citizens as they are Aliens as well. Foreigners have their own line, US Citizens and Residents share one, and then there is a Special Assist, Crew, Diplomat, Apec Cardholder Line which they all share.

As for calling or wanting to know defacto what lines Canadians can go in or can't etc...if anything you should call the Port of Entry you'll be going through...because they will be the best informed as to how things are done at that airport, sea terminal or whichever. Even then, they might just rehash the official rule but in practice it may be very different.

BTW Canadians are not exempt from the passport requirement either as mentioned by a poster... that went into effect 1 or 2 years ago. The US said people can't travel here on birth certificates etc anymore, and that Canadians need to have passports and so Canada reciprocated it and American's need passports to go to Canada too. Yes you guys are VISA exempt but not passport exempt anymore.

As for questions about entering etc...realize when you're flying from Canada to the US...you are precleared ie there are American agents in the Canadian city and they process you there. That way you come to the airport as a domestic flight. In any case if you are transiting through the United States back to Canada for example, you still have to go through Immigration and Customs. Following 9/11 the US abandoned its' transit policy. So all passengers on their first port of entry from a non-precleared foreign destination will have to go through CBP inspection before continuing onto their other flight. Yes, we have passengers for example from Britain who go to Mexico for vacation but fly through the US. They have to fill out their Visa Waiver form fill out a Customs Declration be processed then go onto their flight and turn in their departure record 15 minutes later to the gate agent for a flight to London. It doesn't matter where you're going if you're from an international flight that isn't precleared you have to go through that process!

Seminole, your comments outline one reason why Canadians get annoyed at CLT. They are using a form explicitly not designed for Canadians (the I-94), and one that no other point of entry seems to use and applying it ad hoc. If the US wanted to require Canadians generally to fill out I-94s, that is the US government's option and would at least be consistent and provide fair warning to Canadians that they really do need to keep form I-94C (a Canuck version). Of course, many people would likely choose not to travel to the US in response. But having just one port of entry trying to use a form that might simply be thrown out if you hand it in at any other place (E.G. fly out of SEA) is simply inane and likely to generate many false positives.

Apparently CLT has a particularly bad problem with Canadian illegal immigrants ... though it's hard to fathom why. No special mentions about Canadians on the Mecklenburg County sheriff's web page. A whopping 86 murders last year (12x as many as in comparably-sized Hamilton, ON), though, maybe that's the rationale for the local I-94W requirement?

I am flying into CLT today on my way to LGA on USAir. I am really not looking forward to it given that I fly through MIA almost weekly and don't have to deal with the I94 issue and I get to clear through the USC line.

I avoid CLT at all costs but in this instance all AA options were prohibitive.

No doubt the incredible free health-care in North Carolina!!

The green form doesn't have lines for visa information...

Uhm, no - "American's" can still go to Canada (and Mexico) without a passport.

Our friend Seminole 08 noted "when CBP began cracking down on immigration and illegal aliens they discovered many Canadians came to the United States and just never went home." This is a story worth telling! Are they the folks pickin' tobacco and slaughtering cattle that were the subject of immigration raids and are now in Gitmo or Leavenworth? Were lots of undocumented Canadians arrested? Was the government of Canada notified? Or did they find snowbirds at the bingo parlor who can't afford gas for the RV to head north? Or baseball players and personal trainers who found a great need that was unfulfilled? Or are these people who can only read road signs in French and are now wandering aimlessly? Or the Governor of Michigan? Or Dan Ackroyd, Jim Carrey, Joni Mitchell? Is CLT the dead zone? We need to know and we want them back! But those forms at the airport - they won't help.

this is seminole08 just telling you guys the reasoning that has been provided with this policy. There are many Canadian ''overstays'' just like I'm sure there's many American ''overstays'' in Canada. It has nothing to do with Canadians staying in Charlotte. That's your entry point into the U.S, every port has some flexibility in terms of allocating special use lines or requiring passengers to sometimes fill out other paperwork. CLT is a small port, if you go through MIA I'm sure they're more focused on all the mule runs from South America. There's other things they are focusing on.

It's sad that you guys are so irrate over one piece of paper Lol. I never really formed an opinion on Canadians till I began at CLT. You guys seem to despise America so much yet you people have the same sense of false entitlement. When Americans go to other countries and say I'M AMERICAN I DON'T NEED THIS BLAH BLAH and act ignorant, you guys say/do the same stuff every day at CLT. All the white I-94 form does is prove that you did indeed leave the United States when you turn in the bottom portion. No big deal. And that's right no one has to fly through CLT. It's your choice. There's worse things in the world than filling out an I-94 form.