Well as of now the US - Canada border is shutdown until August 21 so I’m going to surmise that entails the CBP not accepting waiver applications at the respective POE.

I will not be surprised if this doesn’t get extended once August 21 comes around.

Months ago I predicted at least September.

Thoughts anyone?

Just a FYI.

A Globe and Mail poll found that 81% of Canadians say the US-Canada border should stay closed as the death toll tops 130,000 stateside.

Most politicians are probably going to listen to the vast majority of the populace. I don’t see this boding well for the opening of the border to tourists anytime soon.

Thanks for updates guys..I have not sent anyone to the border.. None of my clients are traveling to the USA right now, other then my truck driver clients, so not able to add any updated info.

@Kscott

Yes, the date for re-opening was June 21st. You apparently called on June 17th...why would you think they were suddenly open? They specifically said, and I posted here, June 21st.

Are you not keeping track of what Homeland Security is even saying? At least keep track of whats being said on the forum.

Again, I have been told anecdotally that they are allowing people to fly (circumstances vary) but usually not drive. Ontario border obviously.

Do you have any NEW information? Everyone here knows they aren't taking waivers, we want to know if the date is pushed from June 21st to July 21st?

eSafe is SIGNIFICANTLY faster for ALL cases BTW. The faster it gets to "secondary security" the faster the application will be, even if it is a more complex case.

I spoke to 3 BC borders yesterday and they have all told me that they are not taking any waiver applications since they are deemed to be a non essential service. So I am keeping a growing list of people to notify when the borders reopen and they can go down and file their packets. We do not push the esafe since it does our clients no benefit and does not speed up their cases any quicker since they tend to have complex cases that take a long time to adjudicate on a good day. We are still preparing their packets with the understanding that they will go down in a mass filing when the borders reopen.

[ KSCOTT appended this reply on June 17, 2020 @ 9:55 am ]

Also, just a side note in regards to travel. They are still allowing people to fly down for recreational purposes from YVR. Land border travel is still prohibited for recreational purposes but we have gotten a few people allowed to cross by land for humantarian purposes only. We have already had 4 fly down so far for recreational purposes and a 5th one is going down to get married to his fiance.He and I have already had a long discussion regarding this trip in terms of having the proper ties & equities on this kind of trip.

A 6th one yesterday was asking me about taking a trip as he wants to buy a high end sports car in the USA and drive it back to Surrey. His big concern was taking $160,000 cash down to buy it and what would CBP say because of his old criminal record. I told him that they can't say too much as long as he declared it and the fact that he has an approved waiver anyway.

We also have a client that did not listen and foolishly tried to go down to get his waiver filed 2 weeks ago. CBP yelled at him and ordered him to go home. They told him to not come back until the border reopened. He said that they would not even look at the paperwork.

So yeah there are provisions in place to even cross by land if you can articulate why your trip is essential. However, this should not even be attempted unless you are 100% qualified that your trip should be deemed an essential or humantarian reason. One person called us and learned this the hard way where he tried to cross and CBP discovered that his trip was non essential and that he used some false information in the process. Well he got a 5 year ban in April 2020 because of this.

Border closure has been extended to July 21. That means no TRAVEL until then.

Will that mean you cannot hand in your waiver until then? I will try and find out on or after the 21st of June. Anyone see a change on the eSafe application about that date?

Well it looks like another month for sure....

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/canada-u-s-border-to-remain-closed-to-non-essential-travel-for-another-month-pm-says-it-s-the-right-thing-1.4944793?fbclid=IwAR1OnIFzj2Eo_woBzYNlCEbQVCDcjWvBq-YP4M4dMYr8rF5WpF_VNHwUbgI

Just gonna leave this here as an FYI.

I’d be surprised if the border is open by September to be frank.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/beta.ctvnews.ca/national/coronavirus/2020/5/15/1_4941418.html

@J Rogers

My concern with the border being open is that since in Canada we have an exponentially more compassionate system of healthcare and generally it is a policy not to turn away foreigners in need of emergency care when they are on our soil (and we don’t charge for this emergency care) that many Americans might see an opportunity to come to Canada knowing they are sick and wish to take advantage of our system.

As for waivers, well as much as I’d like to travel to see people I love in America I’d hate to submit a waiver application, get approved possibly for only a year (since I’m a first-timer) but then lose out a few months or more since the border may not even be open.

I suppose the upside for me is that the longer I wait to submit a waiver the more time I’ve “chewed off” my ban. Quite honestly had this pandemic thing not happened I was hoping to submit a waiver this past March/April.

I need to renew my passport as well and at this point I don’t believe we can even currently do that.

At any rate I suppose the border reopening will remain up in the air but it seems quite a few provincial leaders are reluctant to have it open for the foreseeable future.

@Magnus its incredibly hard to say with Trump being so unpredictable.

For me and Michelle, the main date is "when can people hand in waivers" which LOOKS like June 4. It takes about 6 weeks at least anyways for them to be granted, so those people may be able to travel as soon as they get it.

Again, we could hold a great debate on when, but Canada is only half the equation, so who knows.

Just posting a couple articles of interest here. Personally I don't see the border opening anytime soon. If I were to take a guess I'd think late summer/early fall at the earliest.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/increased-border-traffic-likely-as-canada-u-s-economies-reopen-freeland-1.4934293

https://globalnews.ca/news/6922269/coronavirus-border-restrictions-canada/

I got this on Friday.

On March 18, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services temporarily suspended in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs) to help slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19). USCIS is readying offices to reopen on or after June 4. Employees in these offices are continuing to perform mission-essential services that do not require face-to-face contact with the public while the offices are closed.
While offices are temporarily closed, USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency in-person services. Please call the USCIS Contact Center for assistance with emergency services.
USCIS field offices will send notices to applicants and petitioners with scheduled appointments and naturalization ceremonies impacted by the extended temporary closure. USCIS asylum offices will send interview cancellation notices and automatically reschedule asylum interviews. When the interview is rescheduled, asylum applicants will receive a new interview notice with the new time, date and location of the interview. When USCIS again resumes operations for in-person services, USCIS will automatically reschedule ASC appointments due to the temporary office closure. Individuals will receive a new appointment letter in the mail. Those who had InfoPass or other appointments must reschedule through the USCIS Contact Center once field offices are open to the public again. Please check to see if the respective office has been reopened before calling the Contact Center.
Please also visit uscis.gov/coronavirus for updates. For the latest information on the status of an office, visit https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings.

So they are going to TRY and open June 4, (not June 1 as I speculated)

I assume this pertains to handing in waivers as well.

We shall see.

#30 @Michelle

The wording in that link is somewhat nebulous, understandably so. One would suppose that handing in and processing a waiver at a POE would entail face-to-face contact and thus not a necessary action they would feel to take at that time as I don't anticipate that by June they'll have a handle on the the pandemic and probably wouldn't want to interact with folks they deem not an "emergency". I guess we shall see.

Nevertheless thank you for posting the link and keeping us up to date on current happenings.

Stay safe.

John, your guess was right on..I just received this...

https://www.uscis.gov/about-us/uscis-office-closings

@Magnus actually Trumps original order was eventually sustained, so they are expecting this NOT to be struck down.

What i am seeing actually is the Republicans pushing hard to re-open the economy. Sadly, I think they will open the border (or attempt to) before this is fully resolved. Republicans are proving once again that "common sense" is always a problem for them, and $$$ over safety...every time. Did anyone see the interview with the mayor of Las Vegas? This woman DOES NOT CARE how many people die, she wants those casinos full immediately. When asked what her plan was, she literally then said "it is the casinos responsibility".

Nice to know. Will be avoiding that town.

My speculation is June 1. (Just an educated guess)

#27 @ J Rogers

That executive order is illegal and will most likely be struck down in the courts. I'm not sure how fast that will be however. As for it affecting waivers I don't know but Trump is trying to stop issuing green cards at this time.

It's really just a ploy to feed red meat to his base (as many are bigots and this is something they can wrap their little minds around in the most simplistic of terms) as he needs to deflect and distract attention from his gross mishandling of the pandemic and his dwindling approval rating.

That he announced it yesterday on the same day as Hitler's birthday tells you all you need to know... American ethnonationalism at it most desperate.

This is Trump broadcasting to the world that he is seeing erosion in his base from massively fumbling the pandemic response.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/coronavirus-trump-immigration/2020/04/21/a2a465aa-837a-11ea-9728-c74380d9d410_story.html

Trump decreed via tweet late Monday that he intends to sign an executive order suspending immigration to the United States, but the president appears to have again publicly declared a U.S. policy that was not yet ready for implementation, leaving his aides rushing to deliver on his pronouncement.

“In light of the attack from the Invisible Enemy, as well as the need to protect the jobs of our GREAT American Citizens, I will be signing an Executive Order to temporarily suspend immigration into the United States!,” the president wrote.

Not 100% sure if its relevant to waivers.

#25 @J Rogers

I just saw this news but thank you for the update. Obviously you’re on it, as it were.

Stay safe.

@Magnus

Homeland Security had set May 4 as the date. I assume that is too optimistic but no new information since then.

Trudeau said today that the agreement to keep the border closed is extended for another 30 days. (for non essential travel)

I get emails from Homeland Security and I drop by the office twice a week, Tuesdays and Saturdays for now, between noon and 4.

I will update everyone as soon as I have information.

Anybody here able to surmise when the border may possibly open for them to accept waivers? I know nobody here is a fortune teller but was just wondering if there was any information pertaining to this "blowing in the wind".