What began as a fun trip for herself to Brazil ended in confusion and frustration for Nur Omar, a Canadian citizen who was denied entry into the United States for a flight layover.
On May 5, Omar was scheduled to fly from Toronto Pearson Airport to Porto Alegre, Brazil, with a brief stop in Washington. She had purchased a premium economy ticket with United Airlines, having opted for a more affordable fare compared to Air Canada, and had her Canadian passport with her.
“I wasn’t even going to spend a day or two in the United States. I was only going to stay there for one hour till my other flight so I can go to Brazil,” Omar said in a viral TikTok video recounting the incident earlier this month.
@nurhaj0 Part 1. I’m a Canadian citizen 🇨🇦and i was stopped from entering the US 🇺🇸because I didn’t have a visa, even tho I don’t need a visa to enter the US🇺🇸 #canadiancitizen #usborder #uniteairlines #aircanada #canada #US #unitedstates #border #unitedairlinestiktok #citizen @unitedairlinesuni @Air Canada ♬ original sound – Nur
Omar explained that she arrived in Washington well ahead of her 7:45 p.m. flight, completed check-in and security without issue, and headed toward the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) for pre-clearance.
That’s when she said everything changed.
“I gave them my Canadian passport, and I was simply flagged. They said I was randomly selected for extra screening and extra everything,” Omar said.
“Also, they did take my fingerprints, and after they took my fingerprints, that’s when they told me, I was randomly selected. I was travelling with my Canadian documents, and I do not need a visa as a Canadian citizen to enter the U.S.”
After hours of screening, an officer told her she wouldn’t be allowed into the U.S. because she didn’t have a visa. This raised questions with Omar, as Canadian citizens are not typically required to obtain a U.S. visa for short-term entry.
When she asked for an explanation, she was told the issue was that she was not born in Canada.
“I asked him, why is that? Because I’m a Canadian citizen. And he said, it doesn’t matter. It’s because you weren’t born in Canada,” Omar recalled.
CAN THE U.S. DENY ENTRY TO CANADIANS?
The Government of Canada states that Canadian citizens and other foreign nationals are required to register with the U.S. government if their stay in the U.S. exceeds 30 days.
According to Benjamin Green, U.S. and Canadian immigration lawyer, CBP officers have significant discretion when it comes to admitting non-American travellers, even those like Omar who was only transiting through.
“U.S. immigration officers can deny anybody entry at any time. Even if it’s transitioning, you’re still technically clearing customs, and they can do whatever. They have the ability to deny anybody for anything,” Green said.
While officers typically provide a written explanation for denial, Green noted that such discretion leaves room for interpretation.
In the TikTok video, Omar suspects that her name, Nur Omar, which is of Arabic origin, may have contributed to her being flagged.
Green acknowledges that such concerns, while difficult to prove legally, are not uncommon.
“Just because you’re born somewhere else, that doesn’t preclude you from entering on your Canadian passport,” he said. “I don’t think that this was the correct interpretation by the officer, but we have seen people born in specific countries face additional scrutiny for sure.”
By the time Omar was officially denied entry, she had already missed her flight. She was told by the CBP officer that United Airlines would be responsible for rebooking her onto a new flight, ideally one that didn’t transit through the U.S.
But what followed, she said, was a distressing experience with United’s customer service. After multiple calls and wait times, she spoke with a representative who initially seemed supportive, until she asked to not pay the difference for changing her flight.
@nurhaj0 Part 2. I’m a Canadian citizen 🇨🇦and i was stopped from entering the US 🇺🇸because I didn’t have a visa, even tho I don’t need a visa to enter the US🇺🇸 #canadiancitizen #usborder #uniteairlines #aircanada #canada #US #unitedstates #border #unitedairlinestiktok #citizen ♬ original sound – Nur
“The agent told her that they’re actually not responsible for the situation,” Omar explained. “I told them that it is United’s responsibility, because even the officer said so, and the person at the desk, that is also a United representative, said so, so there is no point for them not to be responsible for what’s happening to me. And they’re like, ‘OK,, but you were denied because of your visa, and you don’t have a visa, so that’s not our fault.’”
United Airlines told Now Toronto that it issued a refund to Omar for the unused portion of her ticket. However, Omar says that during a call with one of the airline’s customer service representatives, she was dismissed and yelled at, and proceeded to blame her for the situation and hung up on her, despite her attempts to explain that she had been denied entry through no fault of her own.
“She was yelling at me on the phone. And I need to have this as proof, because when I go to confirm if this is right, I need to have this. And she basically said, ‘Ok, bye.’ And she hung up on my face. The agent hung up on my face. And I kind of lost it at that point,” Omar said in her video.
Omar is now sharing her story to raise awareness, wondering if other Canadians might face similar situations and scrutiny.
“I’m not sure if this is something that happened to me because of my name, because of the way I look, or anything like that, but it’s nothing other than unacceptable, and I don’t understand why they have to be like this brutal. So, this is my story about how I was not allowed to enter the U.S. with invalid reasoning, because I can’t enter the U.S. with a Canadian citizenship,” Omar said.
