With only hours left before the start of a possible war in Iraq, the United States is ratcheting up border security with new visa requirements for immigrants crossing the border from Canada.

Monday, the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services began requiring all landed immigrants in Canada to have valid non-immigrant U.S. visas when crossing the border between the two nations. The new requirement includes immigrants from former British Commonwealth countries who were previously visa-exempt but excludes immigrants from countries on the U.S. Visa Waiver Program list.

Syracuse University’s Slutzker Center for International Services is providing information for students confused about the new requirements. Associate Director of SCIS Dr. Michael Smithee said that “landed immigrant” status in Canada is similar to permanent resident or green card status in the United States. Under old regulations, landed immigrants from former British territories in the Caribbean, Africa and elsewhere were allowed to enter the United States from Canada without a visa, Smithee said. While immigrants from most of these nations must now obtain visas, citizens of Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Uruguay and the United Kingdom remain visa-exempt under the Visa Waiver Program.

However, the number of immigrants affected by the new requirements is likely to be small. James Weeks, a professor in the College of Law, said that the changes will not have a major impact on national security.

“In my personal opinion, it’s just window dressing,” Weeks said. “It’s just one more step in the bureaucracy that makes life difficult for immigrants.”

The visa changes will probably have an equally small impact on international students at SU. Melvyn Levitsky, a professor in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, said that most international students already have U.S. student visas and would not need another to cross the Canadian border. Visas do not set limits on the length of time a visitor can remain in the United States, Levitsky said. That limit is set by the SCIS when the immigrant arrives at a point of entry.

Smithee said the new visa rules are part of a program to deter would-be terrorists from entering the United States over the porous Canadian border.

“I think it’s directly a result of 9/11 and the increased scrutiny the Department of Homeland Security is placing on people entering the U.S.,” Smithee said. “Who knows where a terrorist comes from these days?”

Published on March 18, 2003 at 12:00 pm