Canada Introduced Visa-Free Travel to 13 Countries, Unlocking New Opportunities

According to recent news, Visa-free travel has lately been made available by Canada to 13 nations, creating new possibilities for businesspeople, travelers, and explorers. The Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Sean Fraser made this announcement in Winnipeg.

The 13 Countries Granted Visa-Free Travel

Canada has carefully selected a total of 13 countries and granted visa-free travel. To travel to Canada, passport holders do not require Temporary Residence Visa. However, the only exception to this rule is for visitors from these nations who have recently held a valid United States non-immigrant visa or who have previously held a Canadian visa within the last ten years.

The 13 countries included are 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, Thailand.

According to Fraser, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been working to simplify, expedite, and reduce the cost of pretravel screenings. In addition, this choice will allow IRCC to process visa applications more quickly by diverting thousands of applications from Canada’s docket. The Minister also mentioned that in 2017, a comparable pilot program was launched in Brazil. According to him, the program was successful in increasing Brazilian visitors by 40% and decreasing the burden at the IRCC office in Sao Paulo by 60%, freeing up IRCC employees to work on more complicated applications.

Canada’s Visa-Free Travel

Canada is visa-free for more than 50 nations, although most of them require an electronic travel authorization (eTA) to fly there.

There exists a requirement for a visa for nations that are not exempt. Meaning, non-exempt nations must obtain a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV), also known as a guest visa to travel to Canada. Applicants with TRV in Canada are not authorized to work and study and may be requested at their port of entry to provide proof that their travel to Canada.

There is currently a backlog of TRV applications that IRCC is tackling. According to the IRCC’s most recent backlog data, 50% of TRV applications are not being handled within a 14-day period.