Do I need an eTA for my trip to Canada?
You will need to apply for an eTA if you are travelling from the UK or the EU to CANADA VISA FOR BRITISH CITIZENS by aeroplane for a holiday, business trip, a visit to friends or family or a transfer to another country. Underage children must also have their own eTA. You do not need to apply for an eTA Canada if you have a visa or a Canadian or US passport. Nor if you arrive by train, car, bus or cruise ship.
Are you planning on staying in Canada for more than six months? Or do you not meet the requirements of the eTA Canada? Then you will need to apply for a visa. This is more complicated and expensive than applying for an eTA. An eTA visa is also granted faster, on average in 3 days and in case of an emergency in 18 minutes.
What is an eTA Canada?
The abbreviation eTA stands for “electronic Travel Authorisation”. An eTA Canada is not a physical document, but an electronic authorisation to fly to Canada without a visa. Each application is assessed by Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Are you not expected to pose a security risk? Then your application will be approved. At check-in, your airline will check whether you have a valid eTA based on your passport number. This way, undesirable persons can be excluded and air traffic remains safe.
Requirements and validity of the eTA Canada
An overview of all rules can be found on the eTA Canada requirements page. In addition, some restrictions apply to persons wishing to work or study. Applying for an eTA Canada is only permitted if you meet these requirements:
- You have the nationality of a European country, such Ireland, or one of these countries, or you are a UK citizen
- You are travelling to Canada for a holiday, to study, on a business trip or a transfer
- You do not pose a risk to safety or public health
- You comply with the Canadian coronavirus prevention rules
- You have never committed a crime and you have never violated any immigration or visa-related law
- On arrival, you can convince the CBSA that you and your family members meet all the requirement
Your eTA Canada is valid for a maximum of five years
The validity period starts from the moment your application is approved. The validity expires as soon as the passport with which your eTA was applied for expires. Are you using a new passport? Then you will also need to apply for a new eTA visa. Your eTA only needs to be valid at check-in and upon your arrival in Canada. Your passport also needs to be valid during your entire stay in Canada.
Each stay can last up to six months
Within the validity period of the eTA, you can travel to Canada an unlimited number of times. Each stay can last up to six consecutive months.
Applying for the eTA Canada
Applying for an eTA should preferably be done before you book your trip to Canada. The arrival date does not have to be known yet. You can apply for your eTA Canada with your computer, tablet or smartphone. To do so, open the online eTA form. You can fill in this application form for yourself, but also for another traveller or for an entire travel group at once. Make sure you have the passport of each traveller for whom you want to apply for an eTA at hand. The form contains clear explanations at each entry field and can be completed in approximately ten minutes.
After completing the application form, you can pay the cost of the eTA, which amounts to £19.95 per person. This can be done safely and easily with Visa, Mastercard, American Express or PayPal. The average delivery time of the eTA Canada is three days. If you wish to travel to CANADA VISA FOR SWEDISH CITIZENS at short notice, you can submit an urgent application. A surcharge of £17.50 per person applies to this. The average delivery time then becomes 18 minutes, even during weekends, on public holidays and at night. Bear in mind that applications sometimes take longer to process than the average delivery time, for example because of the chance of a random extended background check.
As soon as your application has been approved, you will be notified by text message and email. From then on, you can check in directly on your flight to Canada. It is not necessary to print your eTA. Do you have any questions? You can find more information on the page wit frequently asked questions.
