As of midnight on Monday, the immigration practice known as ‘flagpoling’ was officially ended, the Canada Border Services Agency said in a press release.
According to the CBSA, flagpoling occurs when foreign nationals who hold temporary resident status in Canada leave the country and, after a visit to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, re-enter to access immigration services at a port of entry.
The agency said work and study permits will no longer be provided to flagpolers at a port of entry, effective Dec. 23 at 11:59 p.m. eastern.
“This practice has taken up significant resources at the border, diverting Canadian and American officers away from important enforcement activities and has contributed to wait times for cross-border travellers,” the CBSA press release said.
Manan Gupta, a regulated Canadian immigration consultant based in Brampton, Ont., said that “this has become a very popular trend in recent years.”
This generally happens when someone needs a visa or an extension on short notice.
“If someone gets a job offer and they have to start soon, they often resort to flagpoling to get same-day visa services,” he said.
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Essentially, when flagpoling, a person exits Canada and reports to U.S. border officials, indicating that they intend to return to Canada and not to remain in the United States.
Upon reaching the Canadian point of entry, the CBSA can then consider the person’s application for the immigration service they are looking to receive.
“They can simply tell the U.S. border agent that you don’t have a U.S. visa and they will turn you around before you can enter the U.S. You could then enter Canada, where CBSA agents would process your application,” Gupta said. “You can imagine why this was an irritant for the U.S. when the flow of goods and people was held up in border traffic.”
In May this year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the Canadian government to end the practice on its side of the border.
Gupta said applicants turn to flagpoling as a “last resort” owing to high wait times for visa processing in Canada.
As of Dec. 17, the average processing time for a work permit in Canada was 170 days, while the average wait time for a student permit was nine weeks.
“There was nothing illegal about this practice (before Tuesday), but it shows the system wasn’t working well when wait times were so long,” Gupta said.
Applicants who attempt to flagpole for a work or study permit at the Canada-U.S. border will be asked to submit their application to immigration officials.
Gupta welcomed the government’s decision to end the move.
“This was creating a two-tiered immigration system. Why should wait times be different for different people?”
Each year, thousands of people flagpole at the Canadian entry points and since 2021, there has been a year-over-year increase, according to CBSA statistics shared with Global News.
As of June 2, a total of 32,410 people had flagpoled.
Last year, 61,561 used this tactic, which represented a 90 per cent jump from 2022, when 32,394 people flagpoled at the U.S.-Canada borders.
In 2021, flagpoling dipped by 34 per cent as non-essential travel across the U.S.-Canada border was restricted amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
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