Tourist visa to Canada
If you want to come to Canada for tourism or leisure you will most likely need to obtain a Visitor Visa, also known as Tourist Visa. However, people coming from certain countries may be visa-exempt and must apply for eTA instead.
Having obtained a Tourist Visa or an eTA does not guarantee that you’ll be admitted to Canada. Visitor Visa only allows you to appear and be examined by the Border Services Officer before the ultimate decision on whether to allow you into Canada is made.
Do you need a Tourist Visa to come to Canada?
If you want to come to Canada for tourism or or leisure the first question you should sort out is whether you need a Visitor Visa or an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization). The answer to that question will depend on a number of factors:
the type of your travel document (passport, refugee travel document, alien’s passport for stateless persons, greencard, etc.)
your nationality and the country that issued your travel document
how you’re planning to come to Canada (by air, by sea, by train, by car, on foot)
Do you need a Tourist Visa to come to Canada?
Visa-exempt visitors
Canada has entered in a number of international agreements with some countries and exempted citizens of those countries from the requirements of obtaining a Visitor Visa if they want to come to Canada for leisure or tourism, and if the duration of their stay is less than 6 months. If you’re visa-exempt all you will need to do is obtain an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization) before you travel to Canada.
If you’re not visa-exempt
If your country does not have an international agreement with Canada establishing a visa-free regime then you will require a Visitor Visa imprinted in your passports before you are allowed to board the plane and come to a Canadian Port of Entry.
You must meet some basic requirements in order to obtain a Tourist Visa in Canada, such as:
have a valid travel document
you must be admissible to Canada, not be a risk to the security of Canada, and have no criminal or immigration-related convictions
satisfy an officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay,
show that you have enough money to maintain yourself and your family members in Canada and to return home
you must not intend to work or study in Canada (unless you’re authorized to do so).
How to apply for Canada Tourist Visa?
Visitor Visa allows you to stay in Canada under 6 months at a time. This means that you must be able to prove that you intend to stay in Canada temporarily and will leave the country before the end of your authorized stay.
To convince the officer that you will leave Canada you can show ties that will pull you back to your country of residence. The documents and proofs that can be presented to the officer depend on your particular situation.
Normally you would submit your Visitor Visa application online and include immigration forms and mandatory documents requested in the Document Checklist. You also may include optional supporting documents to strengthen your application.
Documents you need to apply for Canada Visitor Visa
The supporting documents needed to apply for Tourist Visa depend on your specific situation. There is no exhaustive list of supporting documents that you can provide to the immigration officer to guarantee that your Visitor Visa is approved. If you’re planning to apply for a Visitor Visa book a consultation with a lawyer to determine what documents you can include with your application to increase the likelihood of your Tourist Visa approval.
Extend your Canada Visitor Visa and apply for Visitor Record
If you received a Tourist Visa and you want to extend your stay in Canada as a visitor, you must apply for a Visitor Record at least 30 days before your status in Canada expires.
Visitor Record is a document issued by IRCC that gives you a visitor status in Canada and includes a new end date of your authorized stay in Canada. Visitor Record does not allow you to leave and re-enter Canada, but only allows you to stay longer in Canada. You must leave Canada before the date mentioned on your Visitor Record.
You can legally stay in Canada until IRCC reaches a final decision on your Visitor Record application.