Get visa support to host an international event in Canada

What events can be registered

Your event must meet certain criteria to be registered with the SELU.

To qualify, your event must

take place in Canada
have a minimum of 10 delegates from visa-required countries
have submitted a registration request at least 6 months before the event start date
pass a review of the event details and
be a business event (conference, meeting, forum, political summit, trade show, exhibition) or
be an entertainment event (fair, concert, festival, etc.) or
be a sporting event

Your event does not qualify if

it targets participants who may require work or study visas to attend the event
its purpose is for demonstrations or protests
its primary participants are minors
it is a personal or family event
it is a religious event
it is an award ceremony
it is training, workshops or courses greater than 6 months or where participants are not employed by the provider
it is a charity or fundraising event
it is an incentive trip
it is an exploratory visit for immigration purposes

Organizers of registered events will benefit from the following services

support and guidance about visas and electronic travel authorization application processes, biometrics, and entry requirements to share with event participants
a unique special event code for event organizers to share with visa-required participants
- This allows for the coordination of visa application processing.
a review of invitation letters to make sure all information about visas is included and accurate
aggregate status updates of visa applications for event participants
- This is only provided when requested by the organizer.

The SELU can’t

expedite the visa application process for event participants
influence visa officers to approve applications made by event participants
overturn refused visa applications
guarantee entry of all event participants
provide IT support services
communicate with event participants directly
provide details or case-specific information to organizers about a participant’s visa application
coordinate biometrics appointments
coordinate passport drop-off and pick-up, or expedite the visa printing process for approved visa applications
trace the location of a participant’s passport

To register your event, you must

complete and submit the Notice of an International Event form at least 6 months before your event start date
provide all required information when you apply
- If we ask you for more information or documents, you must provide them in a timely manner.

We will then use the information you provide to determine if your event is eligible to be registered.

About event registration

event registration is completely voluntary.
if your event doesn’t qualify for registration, it can still go ahead as planned.

Our goal is to provide a response within 10 business days. However, depending on how many requests we get, response times may be longer.

The decision

will be sent to the email address provided on the form
is final
- however, we reserve the right to cancel an event registration at any moment.

To make the most of your event registration, we recommend that you

give the SELU a sample of the invitation letter
issue a confirmation of registration that has the unique special event code to all international event participants, along with the visa information letter
encourage visa-required participants to consult the online processing time calculator and submit their application accordingly
get visa application numbers for your event participants and regularly provide the SELU with an up-to-date list of registered participants and their visa application numbers using the template provided at the time of registration

If you have any questions or concerns at any point during the process, please contact us at Special.Events@cic.gc.ca.