A temporary resident visa (TRV) is an official counterfoil document issued by a visa office that is placed in a person’s passport to show that they have met the requirements for admission to Canada as a temporary resident which is needed once you’re eligible for a temporary residence permit.

An electronic travel authorization (eTA) is also required for most visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to or transiting through Canada by air.

Admission to Canada

Types of visas

Super visas

A great way for Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents to sponsor their parents for PR is through super visa, this program allows family members to stay in Canada for long-term visitors on a multiple entry visa that may last up to 10 years which has to be renewed after 2 years.

The requirements for a family member to become eligible are:

• Minimum income between $30,000 – $65,000 depending on how many people you want to sponsor
• Canadian tax return
• Purchase Canadian healthcare insurance for at least 1 year
• Pass a medical examination
• Written commitment of financial support from the sponsor

Diplomatic and official visas (including U.S. government officials)

Diplomatic and official visas are non-immigrant visas and indicate that Canada intends to accord official status to the passport holder.

Diplomatic visas are granted to persons entitled, under international and domestic law, to diplomatic or consular privileges and immunities, who intend to travel to Canada for an official purpose or to pass through Canada on the way to an assignment in another state.

Official visas are granted to persons entitled, under international and domestic law, to official (functional) privileges and immunities, who intend to travel to, or to pass through, Canada for an official purpose.

The requirement for an individual to become eligible is either one of the following:

• A written request, as above, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the state to which the head of mission or post is accredited, or for which the diplomatic mission or consular post has jurisdiction in visa matters;
• A written request, as above, from a diplomatic mission or a consular post of the state of the applicant’s citizenship;
• A written request, as above, by an international organization listed in Temporary Foreign Worker Guidelines in respect of its officials travelling to Canada to carry out official duties; or,
• In the case of persons entering Canada to take employment as officers of the Secretariat of the International Civil Aviation Organization, a letter to the individual concerned constituting an “offer of employment,” indicating their official level at the I.C.A.O. and signed by or on behalf of the Secretary General

Courtesy visas

Courtesy visas are to persons of diplomatic rank coming to Canada for tourist purposes, to members of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), to members of a trade mission visiting Canada and to well-known visiting professors coming to Canada to attend conferences. Courtesy visas may be issued in any type of passport to persons who require visas or who are normally visa-exempt.

The requirement for an individual to become eligible:

• Normal documentation by the port of entry; officers should therefore ensure that a person who is normally subject to referral for a secondary examination understands that a courtesy visa does not exempt them from such procedures.
• Fee for courtesy visas, except for persons listed in R296(2), who have a fee exemption.

Facilitation visas

Facilitation visas are only single-entry and valid for the period needed to travel when new, replacement or emergency passports cannot be issued in a sufficiently timely fashion and where the travel is urgent, for children born in Canada to foreign nationals who have returned to their country and do not wish to assert their Canadian citizenship acquired automatically at birth, for children who go through the citizenship adoption process overseas and where their country of birth only allows them to leave on that country’s national passport, for presumptive Canadians under the age of 18 who are coming to Canada either to reside with their Canadian parent(s) or for humanitarian and compassionate reasons as determined by the visa officer. The person must also be in possession of a valid foreign national passport or travel document in order for the facilitation visa to be issued. Satisfactory evidence (a Canadian birth certificate, citizenship certificate, etc.) must be presented to prove that at least one parent is Canadian, and the visa officer must be satisfied of the parent-child relationship.

The requirement for the issuance of a facilitation visa:

• Officers must verify the status and identity of the applicant through written confirmation from a consular officer that the client has a Canadian passport on record or documentary evidence of citizenship

Electronic travel authorization

• As per subsection 11(1.01) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and subsection 7.1(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), all visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to or transiting through Canada by air must apply for an eTA through the electronic system before entering Canada.

Foreign nationals who hold any of the following documents also require an eTA:

• A passport or travel document issued by the Holy See
• A national Israeli passport
• A passport issued by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China
• A passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British national (overseas), such as a person born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong
• A passport issued by the United Kingdom to a British subject that contains the observation that the holder has the right of abode in the United Kingdom
• An ordinary passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes the personal identification number of the individual

eTA expansion eligibility:

• Foreign nationals may apply for an eTA only if they are travelling to Canada by air
• They have held a Canadian temporary resident visa (TRV) in the past 10 years
• They hold a valid U.S. nonimmigrant visa (NIV)