An electronic travel authorization is a mandated pre-screening procedure that determines if tourists from specific countries are eligible to enter Canada. It is not a visa, but rather a digital authorization electronically connected to your passport that assures commercial airlines that you will be allowed to enter Canada upon arrival.
Who needs a Canada eTA?
Except for US citizens, all visa-exempt foreign people must apply for and acquire an eTA before flying to Canada on a commercial aircraft. Visa-free nations are often those with a fairly similar quality of life to Canada, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and so on. When you check in for a journey to Canada, the airline will scan your passport to make sure you have an approved eTA linked to your passport. You will not be permitted to board the plane if you do not have an approved eTA.
How much does a Canada eTA cost?
The electronic travel authorization for Canada is CAD $7. Watch out for websites that have fashioned themselves to look like official Canadian government sites and will charge substantially more than the legitimate $7 price. Not only should you be concerned about the additional cost, but also about the fact that you are providing highly personal information to a website that is not affiliated with the government of Canada.
How Can I Get a Canadian eTA?
You must apply for an eTA online, with the official application portal for the Canadian eTA located here. You will need a valid passport, a credit card, and an email address to apply. The application instructions for the eTA are accessible in numerous languages.
It is important to double-check the passport number you enter during the application process. If you provide the wrong passport number, your eTA will not be connected to your actual passport, and you will be unable to board your flight at the airport.
How Long Does It Take to Get a Canada eTA Approval?
eTAs generally get approved quickly – usually within minutes – and the applicant is notified of the approval through email. When your eTA is delayed, the first thing to do is check your junk mail folder, since the approval email may have ended up there. If you don’t see the acceptance email, it’s possible that your eTA was delayed due to an issue with your application. An eTA may be delayed for a variety of reasons, including incorrect details submitted in the application or the existence of a criminal background. In such cases, a Canadian immigration official will contact you within 72 hours to confirm the necessary information before deciding whether or not to issue an eTA.
How long will eTA Canada exist at all?
Once approved, your eTA will be valid for up to five years, or until your present passport expires, whichever comes first. The eTA acceptance email will advise you of the expiration date for your eTA, so you will know when you will need to reapply.
How Long Can I Stay in Canada with an eTA?
It is important to understand that an eTA just permits you to board an airplane to Canada; it does not guarantee that you will be allowed to enter Canada and does not grant any special authorization for your stay in Canada. If you traveled to Canada with an eTA and arrived as a guest, you are legally entitled to stay for a maximum of 6 months or until the date imposed by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) upon arrival. If the CBSA has granted you a stay longer than the customary six months, they will have inscribed the date beneath the entry stamp in your passport, or they will have provided you a visitor record with an expiration date.
Do Canadians Need to Apply for an eTA?
An eTA is not available to Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents. One of the eTA application questions asks if the applicant is already a Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident, and if the response is yes, the eTA procedure is terminated.
In some cases, Canadian citizens who do not have a valid Canadian passport or Permanent Residents who do not have a valid PR card may be persuaded to apply for an eTA using the passport of their country of origin. It is crucial to understand that providing a false response to a question while applying for an eTA is considered misrepresentation – and the repercussions of misrepresentation for a Permanent Resident might include losing your Canadian status. It’s best to simply collect the necessary documentation in order to return to Canada, no matter how long it takes.
If you are a Permanent Resident of another country who has not satisfied the residency requirement but wish to visit Canada, you must include an application to renounce your Canadian Permanent Residence status with your eTA application. If you do this, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will first remove your PR status and then issue an eTA that is electronically connected to your passport.
