Did you know the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Sean Fraser, recently went to Winnipeg to announce visa-free travel for 13 different countries?
Passport holders from up to 13 countries will no longer require a Temporary Residence Visa to come to Canada by air. However, this exemption is only for travellers from the 13 countries added to the list who have been Canadian visa holders in the last 10 years or currently have a valid United States non-immigrant visa.
Let’s take a look at the list of countries whose passport holders are eligible for visa-free travel.
- Philippines
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Morocco
- Panama
- St Lucia
- St Kitts and Nevis
- St Vincent and Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Argentina
- Costa Rica
- Uruguay
- Seychelles
- Thailand
According to Sean Fraser, IRCC has been pretty busy streamlining the pretravel screening process to make it more efficient and affordable. He believes this announcement would reduce the country’s visa caseload, giving IRCC the chance to process visa applications in an efficient manner.
A similar pilot program was also launched in 2017 in Brazil. The minister confirms the program increased visitors from Brazil by 40%. Plus, The caseload in IRCC’s Sao Paulo office was reduced by 60%, allowing caseworkers to entertain more complex applications.
We hope you found this information helpful. Follow our blogs for the latest updates and informative content on Canadian immigration.
