Do You Need to Apply for a Canada Tourist Visa?

Video description 

The links explained in the video are here: 

List of countries that need an eTA to enter Canada. 

A list of countries that need a Canada short-stay visa 

IMM 5476 form 

IMM 5475 form 

IMM 5645 form. 

Register an account on IRCC website 

Find a panel physical approved by IRCC

Africa 

Europe 

North America 

South America 

Oceania 

If you are a citizen or national of the above list, you need a Canada tourist visa.

What are the Canada Tourist Visa Requirements?

You need to have some features to be eligible for a Canada Tourist Visa.

The Canadian Embassy will find you inadmissible if you can not prove you are eligible for the Canada tourist visa. They will reject you.

Canada Tourist Visa Requirements

You have to submit a few documents to apply for a Tourist Visa:

1. Tourist Visa Application Form.

2. Prove you have enough money to afford a trip to Canada.

3. A travel plan or an itinerary.

4. An invitation letter from the person you are visiting.

5. Proof of having a relationship if you are visiting them.

6. The immigration status of your friends or family.

7. Financial statements or Bank statements of your relations, if you are visiting them.

8. A letter of declaration from you to the Canadian government. You must explain why they should give you a Tourist visa.

9. Your education or employment status through diplomas or a resume. You should provide a letter from your employer confirming your contractual obligations. It will state you will return to your home country.

10. Proof of having no criminal activity record.

11. Two photos according to Canada Photo Requirements.

12. You should prove that you will return to your home country and your stay is temporary. Providing a lease, property deed, etc. will suffice.

13. Proof that your Canada stay is temporary.

14. If your documents are in other languages than English or French, have them translated.

Applying for the Canadian Tourist Visa

The application process for Canada tourist visa is as follows:

A. Find out whether you need a visa or not

The first step to applying for a Canada tourist visa is to find out whether you need one or not. You can see the sections above to figure this out.

B. Complete application form

Once you know you have to apply for a Canada tourist visa, you must complete the Canada tourist visa application form. You could download the form from the IRCC website or Canadian embassy or consulate in your home country.

Please be careful while you complete the form. The information you fill in must be the same as your documents. If you apply on paper, print, date, and sign it.

C. Gather Requirements

You need to gather all the requirements for a Canada tourist visa. Please note that if one piece is missing, your application will take longer.

D. Schedule visa appointment

You should get an appointment with the Canadian embassy or consulate in your home country. Please remember the exact date. you must attend it in person. When you are going to visit the embassy, don’t forget to bring your requirements and application.

E. Attend Visa Appointment

Submit all requirements during your appointment. you must also pay the fees for application processing.

If the authorities ask, you should go through an interview. The Canadian visa officer will ask you a few questions about the purpose of your visit and your background. Try to be honest and give true answers.

F. Processing

When you finished your visit to the Canadian embassy or consulate, you have to wait. You must wait until your application gets processed. The processing time depends on different factors. If your application gets approved, Canadian authorities will inform you of the following procedures. If it gets denied, they will send you a letter/email, informing you of the reason.

If you are a truck driver and want to move to Canada, read this article. 

Canada’s eTA Vs. Tourist visa

Please note that a few countries should apply for Canada’s eTA – Electronic Travel Authorization. The course of action for Canada eTA is different. It is completely online. You should check whether you need to apply for eTA or not. If so, you don’t have to apply for Canada tourist visa.

What are the Canada Tourist Visa fees?

The Canada Tourist Visa application fee for one person is CAD$100. If the Embassy has asked your biometrics, it costs you another CAD$85.

You must also pay the passport processing fee. It will cost around CAD$45.

Canada Tourist Visa Processing time

The processing time for a Canada Tourist visa takes from 8 to 40 days. The processing time depends on the Canadian embassy workload and your case. Please note that if one piece of your documents is missing or faulty, the application will take longer.

How long is the Canada Tourist Visa Valid For?

The Canadian Consulate decides for your visa validity time. They may give you a visa only valid for the needed time.

In some cases, they give a visa until your passport expires. This depends on if they believe you will return to your home country or not.

Even if your Canada Tourist Visa is valid for years, you may not stay there for more than 6 months at a time. You have to return to your home country after six months. You should stay there for some time and then you can go back to Canada for another six months.

Canada Tourist Visa Limits

You can travel to Canada for less than 6 months. You may not get a permanent stay or Canadian documents. Also, you may not get governmental benefits, study, work, or health care.

Can You Bring Your Dependents to Canada by a Tourist Visa?

Your minor children and spouse may travel with you to Canada with a Tourist Visa. Yet, they should apply for their application and pay separate fees. You should submit the applications together, so your application will get processed as a family.

Canada Tourist Visa Extension

In case you want to stay for more than six months, you need a Tourist visa extension. It is also called a Tourist Record.

You must apply for the visa extension at least one month before your Tourist visa expires.

What is a Visitor Record?

The Tourist /visitor visa doesn’t get attached to your passport. It is an independent document. When the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) approves an extension on your tourist/temporary visa, they grant you a visitor record. It is permission to stay in Canada longer than the standard (six months) time.

The Visitor record contains the time you must leave Canada.

Remember that you can not enter Canada with a visitor record. You need the Embassy permission to re-enter Canada with a visitor record.

If you must leave and re-enter Canada and visitor visa is getting expired, you must apply for a new visitor/tourist visa.

By a visitor record, you can change your status from a:

• Study permit to visitor record
• A work permit to visitor record

How to apply for a visitor record (Canada visa extension)?

You can extend your visa for Canada in two ways: on paper and online.

Visitor record online application

You should have an account on the IRCC website to apply online:

You must also visit IRCC’s website to read the instructions for extending a visa. Scan your documents to create electronic copies. Then, you can submit them on the online application tool.

You should also have a valid debit/credit card to pay the fees online.

While applying, you face some questions. First, “What would you like to do in Canada?”. Choose “Visit.”

Then, for the “What is your current country/territory of residence?” question, answer “Canada.”

Complete the rest of the questions as instructions.

Visitor Record paper application

You must download the application package from the IRCC’s website. It contains application guidelines, application forms, and document checklists.

Read the guidelines very well. Then, provide all the necessary documents and pay for the fees. Print the application forms on the application package. Sign and date where needed.

Now, attach the documents and fees receipt to the completed application. Then, mail them to the address written on the application package.

Documents and Forms You Will Need for a Visitor Record:

• Receipt of payment.
• Passport pages photocopies. They should contain:
  
  • Name and birth date.
  • The number of passports.
  • Your most recent entry into Canada stamps.
  • Expiry date.
  • All other marked pages

The forms

• Change Conditions Application. It is to extend your stay in Canada as a visitor. (IMM 5708)
• The use of a Representative.
• Permission to Release Personal Information to a Designated Individual (IMM 5475)
• Statutory Declaration of Common-law Union (IMM 5409) (If applicable)
• If you did not enter with a passport: Photocopies of identity and your other travel documents. This could be a:
  • citizen certificate
  • birth certificate
  • alien registration
  • etc.
• If applicable: Your current immigration document photocopy.
• If applicable: certificate of marriage.
• Enough financial means Proof.

You should know that the online application is faster and trouble-free. You could submit it directly and get processed faster. If you must provide more documents, you can do it right away. You could also avoid mailing and carrier fees.

Let’s sum up…

In this blog, we explained all about the Canada Tourist visa.

We covered who needs a Canada Tourist visa, the requirements, the application process, how to extend it, and more.

To find out more about the visa that suits you, go through the menu of the site. You can find all the Canada types of visas at the left sidebar.

You can check the Visa Library to find more information about other countries’ visas.

In case you have some experience, please write it down in the comment section. Your comments let the readers choose better and avoid mistakes. Conveying your experiences as comments is a great help for applicants.