Traveling to the United States

There is no approach that will guarantee a particular outcome however, in addition to the travel documents noted above, you may wish to consider the following:

1. Taking with you evidence of ties to Canada. This may include documentation for the following: 
   1. a home, job, family, etc. to return to
   2. the resources to fund your trip
   3. a clear reason for your travel
   4. a concrete date of return
2. Taking with you, concrete and accurate documentation as evidence of the reason for the visit. For example: 
   1. conference and hotel registration if attending a conference. 
   2. if visiting a family member, proof that the family member has legal status in the U.S. (copy of their green card/citizenship, a letter from them that they are expecting you, etc.). 
   3. if visiting an ill family member, consider showing a letter from their doctor as well as your concrete plans to exit the country.
3. If you have travelled to one or more of the restricted countries, you may also:

a. Take with you details  (including dates and purpose of travel) and any evidence such as documentation, pictures, etc. from your visits to one or more of the restricted  (google doc) countries (external link) .

b. Apply for a new passport explaining the reason. This might avoid the unnecessary questions about your travel history however, there are still no guarantees and of course, you might at all times answer truthfully if you are asked about any of your travel history as providing false information could result in misrepresentation.

c. Choose your port of entry wisely. You have the option to withdraw your application at an airport where there is Pre-Flight Inspection. This option does not exist at all airports and not at any of the land crossings.

d. When renewing your Canadian passport, opt out of identifying your country or city of birth if born in one of the restricted countries. Please note that despite omission of this information, your Canadian passport can still be obtained by U.S. officials and you could be asked about your connection to one or more of the restricted countries.

In order to receive permission to enter, you must comply with the questions and instructions of the CBP officers. The officers have a wide range of authority in making their assessment, including but not limited to:

• asking questions about nationality, purpose of visit, intended length of stay, and anything else despite how offensive, intrusive, irrelevant, etc. the questions may seem to the individuals being asked. 
• sending individuals to a secondary inspection for additional questions. See above table for your options when sent to secondary inspections. 
• conducting a body search (wand search and a pat down are the more common forms). 
• collecting fingerprints. 
• conducting a search of individuals’ personal items including asking for passwords to electronics and accounts. 

In addition, foreign individuals requesting entry can be detained for any reason without access to an attorney. U.S. citizens can also be detained however they have the right to an attorney.

You and your belongings (including your electronics) can be subject to a search. You could possibly be held for an extended period of time. If you wish to no longer proceed with your request to enter the country, you cannot simply choose to leave; you must ask permission to withdraw your application. If permission is granted, this is not considered a denial of entry. While the permission to withdraw will remain on record, the individual will not have to indicate that they were ever denied entry in their next application. See above table for additional information.

Canadian citizens in need of emergency consular assistance while abroad can request emergency assistance (external link)  from Global Affairs Canada. See also the information above regarding International SOS (external link)  for TMU students and employees.

If detained at the airport, immigration officials have the authority to videotape the interview and to take transcripts, which individuals will be asked to sign to confirm accuracy. If this happens, it is important to understand that the opportunity to confirm the accuracy of the transcripts is available only while the individual is still at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office at the airport. You will not be able to amend it later.

Individuals who are concerned about frequently being flagged when travelling to the United States may request a U.S. Travel Redress Inquiry Process (external link) . This may provide the reasons for being flagged or may lift the flags.

All international travelers arriving in the U.S. are subject to inspection. CBP officers have the lawful search authority (external link)  to inspect you and your belongings, including devices. If anything seems amiss they may decide to refuse you entry, confiscate your devices, or detain you. This inspection may include electronic and communication devices regardless of whether these items have confidential or sensitive information. This may include:

• computers
• disks
• drives
• tapes
• mobile phones
• cameras
• other media players and any other electronic or digital devices

If you are a U.S. citizen travelling from TMU to the U.S., CBP officers will let you into the U.S. however, you are still subject to the same search authority as noncitizens.  You also do not have an inherent right to refuse access to your devices. For non-U.S. citizens, if access is requested and you decline, you will likely not be granted entry to the U.S.

The NEXUS program (external link)  is a trusted traveller card that is available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents after being thoroughly vetted by Canadian and American immigration officials. It offers a simplified and expedited border clearance process to low-risk, pre-approved travellers and is normally effective for a period of 5 years.

The benefit of a Nexus pass is that it allows individuals to seek entry by scanning the pass rather than having to be assessed by a border officer, however this is not guaranteed. Even those with a NEXUS pass may be questioned.

TMU faculty and staff have a responsibility to protect TMU student and employee personal information from unauthorized disclosure (see FIPPA FAQs for Faculty - General Information about FIPPA for further information). Faculty may also have additional responsibilities to safeguard research data, particularly research involving human subjects.

However, when you are at an international border, such as the Canada - U.S. border, CBP officers have the right to search any devices or belongings with you, which may possibly put you in conflict with your privacy-protection responsibilities.

There are many articles online that advise on how best to protect your privacy before seeking entry to the U.S. This advice often includes sanitizing files, photos, social media and email accounts on your devices; encrypting files; or removing email and social media from phones before crossing the border.

Non-U.S. citizens may consider leaving devices at home, or carrying essentially empty or blank devices with them, however there is some risk in how this may be perceived by the CBP officers. If you encrypt files, or password protect your devices, you may be asked to provide these passwords or unlock the files. Failure to do so may result in denial of entry.

TMU has established records management, privacy protection, and information security best practices, procedures and policies in place that support your privacy protection requirements for TMU personal information. As a TMU staff or faculty member traveling to the U.S. with TMU data (e.g. student files, administrative files, etc.) or teaching or research data with you, consider the following best practices for securing sensitive data:

1. As a starting point, it is not recommended that you store any files containing personal information on mobile devices (phones, flash drives, or laptops). The university provides more secure alternatives including CFAPS and TMU’s Google Drive, which you can access securely through secure and encrypted links to these files (VPN for CFAPS, https for Google Drive).
   
2. Limit the TMU personal information in your custody or accessible through your devices to that which is reasonable for the purpose of your trip. If you do need to bring TMU personal information in files on a mobile device, the information must be safeguarded appropriately using encryption.
   
3. Access to systems or applications where you store TMU personal information should be protected using two-factor authentication.
   
4. If you need to email sensitive information, send the information as an attachment rather than in the body of the email. Encrypt and password protect the attachment. Provide the intended email recipient with the password using a separate method, such as voicemail.