Eligible Brazilians, Bulgarians and Romanians will soon be able to fly to Canada with an eTA

From: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

News Release

April 28, 2017 – Ottawa, ON – Canada is a destination of choice for visitors, businesspeople and international students. To encourage more travel and tourism, the Government of Canada is changing its entry rules to allow low-risk travellers from select visa-required countries to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to fly to or transit through a Canadian airport.

Starting at 9 am EDT on May 1, 2017, citizens of Brazil, Bulgaria and Romania who have held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or who currently hold a valid United States (U.S.) nonimmigrant visa will be eligible to apply for an eTA, instead of a visitor visa, to travel to Canada by air. Those who do not meet these criteria or are travelling to Canada by car, bus, train, or boat will still need a visitor visa.

The expansion of eTA to citizens from select visa-required countries is a natural next step following the successful rollout of eTA for citizens from visa-exempt countries. This will help promote legitimate trade and travel, while continuing to protect the safety of Canadians.

Quotes

“This initiative will make it easier for eligible travellers to come to Canada and to transit through a Canadian airport. It will also encourage them to make repeat visits. The end result will be more travel and tourism and more economic benefits for Canadians.”

 – The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Quick Facts

  • Canada intends to lift the visa requirements for all Romanian and Bulgarian citizens on December 1, 2017. At that point, these citizens would no longer need a visa to travel to Canada. However, similar to other visa-exempt travellers, they would need an eTA to board their flight to Canada. 

  • More than 3.6 million eTAs have been issued to visa-exempt travellers since the application went live on August 1, 2015.

  • Canadian citizens, including dual citizens, cannot apply for an eTA and will need a valid Canadian passport to fly to Canada. Permanent residents of Canada are also not eligible to apply for an eTA, and, as usual, must show their permanent resident card or a permanent resident travel document when travelling to Canada. 

Associated Links

Contacts

For media only

Bernie Derible
Minister’s Office
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
613-954-1064

Media Relations
Communications Branch
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
613-952-1650
CIC-Media-Relations@cic.gc.ca

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