Visa Exemption Ends for Commonwealth Citizens in Canada
Posted Jul 05, 2002

The new U.S. Consul General in Toronto, Antoinette Marwitz, announced in June 2002 that the U.S. Department of State (DOS) plans to introduce regulatory changes regarding certain visa exemptions. These changes would eliminate the current visa exemption given to certain foreign nationals residing in Canada who have a common nationality with Canadians. The current regulation allows citizens of British Commonwealth countries residing in Canada to enter the U.S. temporarily without a non-immigrant visa. These persons are also exempt from the passport requirement if they are entering the U.S. from a Western Hemisphere country.

It is presumed that the passport exemption will be eliminated along with the visa exemption. This will affect many MurthyBulletin and MurthyDotCom readers, who are citizens of India and of the British Commonwealth, who are residing in Canada as landed immigrants. There was no indication of the expected timeframe for this change.