Canadian citizen, on US no-fly list. What can I do in order to be allowed on flights which go through US airspace?
- By
- Aparna Patel
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- 17 Jul, 2023
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Go through the Canadian embassy if you haven’t already; if they can’t help contact as many Canadian media as you can to raise awareness. If you make a big enough stink they might help you.
As you’ve discovered, US regulations apply not just to flights to or from the US, but also to flights that pass over the US. Before such flights the airline will send APIS data (basically the details of the everyone on the flight) to the US Government, who can flag certain passengers as appears to have happened here.
Your only real recourse is to apply to the US Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program (TRIP). This will trigger the DHS to investigate you specifically, and if they determine that you should not have been blocked from boarding (which could be as simply as them confusing you with someone else, poor data on their behalf, etc) then they will remedy this.
As a part of the TRIP process you will be given a “Redress number” which can be used on future bookings, and will allow the government to match up your TRIP application and determination with your flight.
Of course, it’s very possible that the DHS will determine that you are on a blacklist, and that fact is justified, in which case there’s really nothing more that can be done.
Unfortunately if you’re on a USA no fly list, and you’re not a citizen or permanent resident, you have very little recourse.
Who Can Challenge the No-Fly List?
In 2014, the American Civil Liberties Union obtained a federal court
ruling that U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents were entitled
to know if they were on the list and potentially know what got them
there. Baz’s case, if successful, could extend that right to foreign
nationals.
Even if this case is successful, in your case you’re not someone who has been coming to the U.S. and has a long history of coming to the United States and has significant ties to the United States.
Credit:stackoverflow.com‘