Passports Not Required For First Nations: INAC

Passports Not Required For First Nations: INAC

Monday, June 01, 2009 at 17:28

 

 

An official from Indian Affairs is refuting claims that First Nations people will need a passport from now on to cross the border.

 

Patricia Valladao says First Nations travellers will likely still be admitted by land and sea, if they have their old status card as well as some other pieces of identification.

 

That contradicts a Passports Canada spokesman, who says he thought First Nations travellers would not get across today if they weren’t carrying an official passport.

 

Valladao says she knows today is a confusing day, as it marks the first day of the U.S. government’s western hemisphere travel initiative.

 

However, she says her department has already received word that the U.S. government has approved the design of INAC’s new First Nations status cards.

 

Those cards haven’t come out yet, but Valladao says U.S. guards are expected to accept the old cards until then:

 

Valladao stresses that none of this applies to anyone travelling by plane, where passports are strictly required.

 

She says there is a lot of false information being spread about the U.S. border requirements, and INAC officials are posting information on their website to clarify the issues.