Advance Copy of "Third Country" Final Rule (Eff. Mar. 25, 2023)

This document is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on 03/28/2023

"This rule amends existing Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) and Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (collectively, “the Departments”) regulations to implement the Additional Protocol to the Agreement between The Government of the United States of America and The Government of Canada For Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status Claims From Nationals of Third Countries (“Additional Protocol of 2022”) negotiated by the Governments of the United States and Canada and signed in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on March 29, 2022, and in Washington, DC, United States, on April 15, 2022, respectively. The Additional Protocol of 2022 supplements certain terms of the December 5, 2002, Agreement between The Government of the United States and The Government of Canada For Cooperation in the Examination of Refugee Status Claims from Nationals of Third Countries (“Safe Third Country Agreement,” “STCA,” or “Agreement”). Pursuant to the STCA, the respective governments manage which government decides certain individuals’ requests for asylum or other protection relating to fear of persecution or torture (referred to as a “refugee status claim” in the STCA and the Additional Protocol of 2022) pursuant to its laws, regulations, and policies implementing its international treaty obligations relating to nonrefoulement. Under the STCA, only those individuals who cross the U.S.-Canada land border at a port of entry (“POE”), or in transit while being removed or deported to a third country from the “country of last presence,” are subject to the terms of the STCA. Once the Additional Protocol of 2022 is implemented, the STCA also will apply to individuals who cross the U.S.-Canada land border between POEs, including certain bodies of water, and who make an asylum or other protection claim relating to a fear of persecution or torture within 14 days after such crossing. The Additional Protocol of 2022 will enter into force once the United States and Canada have officially notified each other that they have completed the necessary domestic procedures for bringing the Additional Protocol of 2022 into force. The Departments intend this official notification to coincide with the effective date of this final rule at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 25, 2023. DATES: This final rule is effective at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, March 25, 2023."