TO AVOID needing a separate entry visa to travel to the United States:

• An existing valid passport issued before October 26, 2005 by your home country must be, as a minimum, machine-readable (has two lines of text as letters, numbers and chevrons (<<<) at the bottom of the personal information page).
• A new passport issued after October 26, 2005 by your home country must include a digital photograph (printed on the page – not glued or laminated onto the passport) in addition to being machine-readable.

If your current passport does not meet the minimum machine-readable standard you should contact your country's consulate office or embassy in Canada to inquire if they have since upgraded the features of their passports and if you can obtain a new one regardless of the fact that your current passport is still valid. Please note what added features will be required depending if your new passport is issued before or after the October 26th deadline. If you cannot obtain an acceptably upgraded passport from your home country you will need to obtain a separate entry visa from a U.S. consulate office in Canada. Please note this is not a quick same-day procedure. It can involve a lengthy application process as well as the payment of a processing fee.

The list of visa waiver countries includes:

Please note that, regardless if you are a citizen of a visa waiver country and have an upgraded style of passport, you WILL REQUIRE a separate visa to enter the United States if you:

• Intend to stay longer than 90 days.
• Intend to travel to the United States for a reason other than business or tourism.
• Have been arrested, even if not convicted.
• Have a criminal record.
• Have a serious, communicable disease (including HIV).
• Have been refused entry to the United States on a previous occasion.
• Have been deported from the United States.
• Have previously overstayed the 90 days permitted under the visa waiver program.
• Are a child included on a parent's passport.

It is important to remember that a visa does not, in itself, guarantee entry to the United States. A visa indicates that you have had your application reviewed by a U.S. consular officer and that the officer has determined that you are eligible to enter the U.S. for a specific purpose. A visa merely allows you to travel as far as the port of entry (airport, seaport or land border crossing) to the United States. At the port of entry, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officer will make a final decision to permit or deny you entry into the United States.

These upgrades in acceptable passport features for visa waiver countries are in addition to the general US-VISIT procedures that came into effect last year at 115 airports, 14 seaports and the 50 busiest land ports of entry. By December 31, 2005 US-VISIT will be further expanded to include all 165 land entry ports. A separate bulletin concerning the US-VISIT program can be found on the CSA website www.snowbirds.org.

August 25, 2005