Canada is expanding the list of countries whose residents are eligible to visit
this country without a travel visa.
this country without a travel visa.
Passport holders from 13 countries will now be able to travel to Canada by
air without requiring a Temporary Residence Visa. However, this applies
only to travellers from these countries who have either held a Canadian
visa in the last 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States non–
immigrant visa.
Eligible travellers include passport holders from travelling by air from
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Costa Rica, Morocco, Panama, Philippines,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles,
Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay can now do so for up to six
months without a visa, according to a release by Immigration, Refugees and
Citizenship Canada.
Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, visited
Winnipeg today for an announcement regarding visa–free travel.
Fraser says Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been
working to make the pretravel screening process easier, faster, and more
affordable. He says this decision will divert thousands of applications from
Canada’s visa caseload, allowing IRCC to process visa applications more
efficiently.
The 13 countries have been added to the list of more than 50 other places
from which travellers are visa–exempt and electronic travel authorization
(eTA)–eligible, as long as they have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10
years or currently hold a valid United States non–immigrant visa.
The eTA is a $7 pre–screening entry requirement linked to a traveller’s
passport for a period of five years, and allows people to enter Canada as
frequently as they want for short stays. The eTA applications are also
automatically approved within minutes, aaccording to the government release.
automatically approved within minutes, aaccording to the government release.
Minister Fraser has said TRV applications were impacted by the recent
strike by the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The 12–day strike lasted
from April 19 until May 1 and Fraser told reporters that there were
100,000 applications not processed during that period that otherwise
would have been. He also said that he expects IRCC will be able to catch
up to pre–pandemic processing standards within the coming weeks, or a
few months.
According to the release, Canada can expect about 20 per cent more visitors
from the 13 countries, which could bring in nearly $160 million in tourism
revenue within the next decade. (IRCC
