Permanent Residents flying out of Buffalo- now need a visa?

[LoveMMC]

Hello

So I am Canadian (Australian) and my husband is Irish.
He has a permanent resident visa. Last year we flew to Disney
out of Buffalo. All he needed to go was buy a visa when we crossed the border. It ws $6 and we just handed it back when we drove home from Buffalo.

My friend who is a permanent resident said she flew to New York from Buffalo at March Break and she wasnt allowed on the flight till she bought a secondary visa online. She had the $6 one and now needed one to fly.

I have been searching for American visas online and I am not having any luck.

Anybody know what this flying visa could be?

 

[Northstar]

Hello

So I am Canadian (Australian) and my husband is Irish.
He has a permanent resident visa. Last year we flew to Disney
out of Buffalo. All he needed to go was buy a visa when we crossed the border. It ws $6 and we just handed it back when we drove home from Buffalo.

My friend who is a permanent resident said she flew to New York from Buffalo at March Break and she wasnt allowed on the flight till she bought a secondary visa online. She had the $6 one and now needed one to fly.

I have been searching for American visas online and I am not having any luck.

Anybody know what this flying visa could be?

The only thing I can think of is that it's the online pre-visa application that you have to fill out for a visitor visa (if you're not a national of a country that doesn't need a visa to go to the U.S.) But it wouldn't be in addition to a visa that you get when driving across the border... it would be instead of that.

Do you know what country your friend holds nationality from? Because the U.S. has different requirements for different countries, and it's possible that she is no longer eligible to just drive up to the border without a pre-approved visa.

Anyway, here is the link to the DS-160, which is the online visa application that people from most nationalities have to fill out before they can get a visitor visa: http://travel.state.gov/visa/forms/forms_4230.html

But actually, your best source of information is to call a U.S. consulate in Canada and ask, "Can an Irish national with permanent resident status in Canada drive across the border without a pre-approved visitor visa?"
The trouble with any information you get from other permanent residents is that it really depends on the country of nationality, not your status in Canada.

 

[Northstar]

Oops. Emailed one of my students (I work with international students) and she says she has to pre-apply for security clearance to fly into the U.S., that is actually separate from the visa to get in.

Here is the link to the online application for ESTA (love those acronyms). It's some kind of a police records/No-fly-list check. https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta/

Technically, it still shouldn't apply to anyone boarding a flight IN the U.S. I think someone at the airlines got overzealous on your friend. I'd use a driver's license rather than my passport for ID on boarding the flight in Buffalo.

 

[OntFamily]

The airlines in Buffalo (or TSA) does not care about citizenship or immigration status. They need to see government photo ID for proof of identification, but they don't check it against any database (ie to see if you are in the country legally).

If you fly out of Buffalo, and your destination is within the USA, there is no immigration check.

Now, if you are flying into the USA (and your start point of the flight is outside of the USA) the airline will need to check immigration status (to make sure you are eligible to enter the USA). The Buffalo airport airlines don't need to check, as when you are at the Buffalo airport, you're already in the USA (so you've already cleared any immigration checks).


However, if you drive across the USA border (about 15 minutes before you get to the Buffalo airport) your immigration status will be checked at the border by USA officials, and any visas necessary will be checked or need to be procured.