Nationals of 13 countries, which fall under specific categories, will be able to fly to Canada without requiring a Temporary Residence Visa, Sean Fraser, the Canadian Minister of Immigration, has announced.
The Immigration Minister made the announcement during a visit to Winnipeg and pointed out that it applies only to nationals who have either held a Canadian visa in the last ten years or who currently hold a valid US non-immigrant visa, VisaGuide.World reports.
Nationals of countries like the Philippines, Morocco, Panama, Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Costa Rica, Uruguay, Seychelles and Thailand are eligible to benefit from this change.
According to Fraser, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been working to make the pretravel screening process faster, more accessible and less expensive. He also noted that the decision would avoid thousands of applications from Canada’s visa caseload, which makes the IRCC able to process visa applications in a more efficient way.
A similar program was introduced to Brazil in 2017, which the Minister says was successful as it brought 40 percent more visitors and reduced the caseload in the Sao Paulo office by 60 percent. In this way, IRCC officers were able to work on more complex applications while also visitors were able to benefit and travel around the country.
There are more than 50 countries that can enter Canada visa-free, although there is a requirement for Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) arriving by air, while it doesn’t apply for United States citizens to enter Canada unless they are moving to the country for work or study purposes.
Nationals of countries that are not exempt from a visa requirement must apply for a Temporary Residence Visa (TRV), which is also known as a visitor visa. This document allows workers to visit Canada for a six-month period, while the working period can vary depending on the country of nationality.
Passport Index by VisaGuide.World reveals that Canada has a passport score of 85.61, ranking the country 41st internationally. This means that Canadian passport holders can travel to 137 countries visa-free while it needs an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to visit five countries; it has a visa-on-arrival agreement with 42 countries. In addition, an eVisa is required for travel to 12 countries.
A visa is required for visits to 30 countries, and while no entry ban applies to Canadian passport holders, there are also no passport-free agreements with any countries.
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