View Treaty - E105775

AGREEMENT TO AMEND THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FOR THE SHARING OF VISA AND IMMIGRATION INFORMATION

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, hereinafter referred to individually as a “Party” and together as the “Parties,”

CONSIDERING the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America for the Sharing of Visa and Immigration Information, done at Ottawa on 13 December 2012, which entered into force on 21 November 2013 (hereinafter “the Agreement”);

DESIRING to enhance the benefits achieved through immigration information sharing by closing certain gaps and increasing their capability to share immigration information;

RECOGNISING that paragraph 1 of Article 12 of the Agreement provides for the possibility of amendments to the Agreement;

DESIRING to expand the scope of the Agreement to allow for sharing of Information on permanent residents of Canada and on lawful permanent residents of the United States of America and to clarify the purposes for which Information may be shared under the Agreement and make other amendments;

NOW THEREFORE, the Parties agree to amend the Agreement as follows:

I. Amend the definitions by deleting Article 1 of the Agreement and replacing it with the following:

“ARTICLE 1

Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement,

1. “National of a Third Country” means a person who is neither a citizen of Canada nor a citizen or national of the United States of America (the “United States”). For greater clarity, this term includes a person who does not have a country of nationality, a person who is a permanent resident of Canada, or a person who is a lawful permanent resident of the United States.
2. “Query” means an electronic search process, requiring minimal human intervention, initiated by a Party under the authority of, and for the purposes delineated in, this Agreement, resulting in the exchange of Information limited to the data described in the relevant non-legally binding implementing arrangement.
3. “Information” means biographic, biometric, or immigration-related data on Nationals of a Third Country. For Queries on Refugee Status Claimants, Information is limited to data related to a visa application and excludes data otherwise provided under the Asylum Annex.
4. “Refugee Status Claimant” means any person who, in the territory or at a port of entry of one of the Parties, makes a claim for protection against persecution consistent with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, done at Geneva on 28 July 1951 (the “1951 Refugee Convention”) or the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, done at New York on 31 January 1967 (the “1967 Protocol”), or who has made a claim for protection against torture in accordance with the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York on 10 December 1984 (the “Convention against Torture”), or has made a claim for protection on similar grounds in accordance with the Parties’ respective domestic law. This term does not apply to overseas refugee applicants outside the territory of the appropriate Party.”

II. Amend the scope and purpose by deleting Article 2 of the Agreement and replacing it with the following:

“ARTICLE 2

Scope and Purpose

1. This Agreement specifies the terms, relationships, responsibilities and conditions for the sharing of Information between the Parties that occurs by means of a Query and in accordance with the Parties’ respective domestic law.

2. The purpose of this Agreement is to assist in the administration and enforcement of the Parties’ respective immigration laws by sharing Information to:

1. enforce or administer the immigration laws of the Parties;
2. further the prevention, investigation, or punishment of acts that would constitute a crime rendering a National of a Third Country inadmissible or removable under the immigration laws of the Party providing the Information; or
3. facilitate the Parties’ adjudication of an application for a visa, travel authorization, admission, or other immigration benefit, or determination of whether an individual is to be ordered removed by providing Information regarding the admissibility of the individual.
3. The Parties shall handle all Information exchanged under this Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Agreement, and their respective international legal obligations and domestic law.

4. This Agreement is solely intended to facilitate the sharing of Information between the Parties. The provisions of this Agreement shall not give rise to a right on the part of a private party, including to obtain, suppress, exclude or impede the sharing of any Information that is the subject of this Agreement.”

III. All other provisions of the Agreement shall remain unchanged.

IV. This agreement to amend the Agreement shall enter into force on the date of the last note in an exchange of diplomatic notes in which the Parties notify each other of the completion of their respective internal procedures necessary for the entry into force of this agreement to amend the Agreement.

 

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned being duly authorized by their respective governments, have signed this agreement to amend the Agreement.

 

DONE at Ottawa this 19^th day of July 2024, in duplicate in the English and French languages, each text being equally authentic.

Marc Miller   FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

David L. Cohen   FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA