A visitor means a person who is lawfully in Canada, or seeks to come into Canada for a temporary purpose (such as work, study or visit) and who is not a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or the holder of a minister�s permit. An individual allowed into Canada pending further examination because a Port of Entry officer cannot immediately conclude an examination, is not a visitor.
Every visitor, unless exempted, must apply for and obtain a visa before appearing at a Port of Entry (POE). All visitors who are required to obtain a visa must be in possession of the visa when they appear at a POE.
The Canadian visitor visa application involves a two-step process, which begins with the submission at the consular office abroad. A person who makes an application for a visitor visa has the burden of satisfying the visa officer that he or she is not an immigrant. The applicant may be convoked to interview where the visa officer will verify the applicant�s reasons for visiting Canada, the applicant�s ability or willingness to leave Canada within the visa validity date and the applicant�s overall admissibility to Canada.
Once issued the applicant will proceed to the second stage, which takes place at the POE where an immigration officer will question the applicant to ensure admissibility.
A visitor visa may be for single entry or multiple entry use. Single entry visas may be issued up to six months before the expected date of travel. The maximum validity date for multiple entry visitor visas is up to five (5) years or one month prior to the expiry date on the passport/re-entry visa, whichever is earlier. POE officers will routinely grant entry for a period of six months to a person requesting entry as a visitor.
In some cases an applicant wishing to apply for a visitor visa has an immigrant application already in process. This area is referred to as dual intent. The fact that a prospective visitor has an immigrant application pending or is even planning to apply for permanent residence is not, in itself, grounds to refuse to issue a visitor visa. A person may have the dual intent of immigrating and of abiding by the immigration law respecting temporary entry. An intending applicant for immigration to Canada may often have a legitimate reason to visit Canada before the residence application is finalized. Visa officers attempt in such cases, to distinguish between legal and illegal immigrants. Illegal immigrants are those who have no intention of leaving Canada should their immigration application be refused. As visa officers yield significant discretion to issue or refuse a visitor visa this area of decision making has come under increasing controversy.
Subjects of the following areas are not required to obtain a visa before entering Canada at a POE:
- Citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Republic of Korea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland and Western Samoa.
- Persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (Green card) or can provide other evidence of permanent residence.
- British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
- Citizens of British overseas territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
- Persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People�s Republic of China;
- Persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See;
- A foreign national who is a citizen of Lithuania or Poland does not require a temporary resident visa if they hold a machine readable passport that contains a contactless integrated circuit chip and that is issued by Lithuania or Poland, as the case may be.
Citizens of the following countries and territories require a Visa to VISIT or TRANSIT Canada:
A
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Angola
Argentina
Armenia
Azerbaijan
B
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi
C
Cambodia
Cameroon
Cape Verde
Central African Rep.
Chad
Czech Republic
Chile
China, People�s Rep. of
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Rep. of the
Congo, Rep. of the
Costa Rica
Croatia
Cuba
D
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Rep.
E
East Timor
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Ethiopia
F
Fiji
G
Gabon
Gambia
Georgia
Ghana
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
H
Haiti
Honduras
I
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Israel (only Israeli citizens holding valid Israeli �Travel Document in lieu of National Passport�)
Ivory Coast
J
Jamaica
Jordan
K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, North
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
L
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
M
Macao S.A.R.
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives Islands
Mali
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia, Fed. States
Moldova
Mongolia
Morocco
Mozambique
Myanmar (Burma)
N
Nauru
Nepal
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
O
Oman
P
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Authority
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Q
Qatar
R
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
S
Sao Tom� e Principe
Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of
Senegal
Serbia-Montenegro
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Somalia
South Africa
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Surinam
Syria
T
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe
