What Is a Canada ETA?

Taking a trip to there? If you’ve been once before or have spoken to others who have, you may think you’re prepared. Perhaps you already have an itinerary and agenda planned out.

Either way, if you are going to visit this country on or after March 15, 2016, know that things will have changed by then. You’ll need a Canada ETA to get there.

This stands for Electronic Travel Authorization and starting March 15, 2016, it will be required for anyone wishing to travel to or work in the country without citizenship.

An Electronic Visa

Essentially, the document is just an electronic visa. It will be required of any visa-exempt foreign national who wants to travel to or through the mentioned country. Whether it’s by road, railroad or plane, make sure you have your authorisation for the trip.

Do I Need it ?

If you’re a visa-exempt foreign national whose travel plans after the aforementioned date involves this country, this better be on your list of things to acquire.

However, one important exception is American citizens. If you’re an American, you don’t need it to travel there as long as you have the right identification. This would be a passport, your birth certificate or documentation of naturalization.

Application Guidelines 

Once you have your document, it will give you access to the country for five years. Still, there’s no point in putting off the process, so let’s look at what it takes to get your electronic travel authorization.

First, you must have a valid passport to apply for an ETA Canada. You’re also going to need a credit card because they cost $7. American Express, MasterCard and Visa are all acceptable, as are the pre-paid versions of these cards. The cost will be $7 CAD.

Second, you’ll need to use an email address to get your authorization.

That’s all you need! As long as you have these two, simple requirements, it should only take a few minutes for you to get through the process of acquiring your electronic travel authorization.

Better still, you’ll know if you’ve been approved or not in under a minute. In some rare cases, it could take much longer, though. If you don’t get a message about being approved within a few minutes of completing your application process, expect an email sometime in the next two or three days.

When you can actually expect your authorization is another story. As the program is not yet in effect, there are no hard numbers to go by. This is why it would be wise to start applying for one ASAP if you know you’ll be traveling soon.

While the document is a major change to how travel has worked in the past, fortunately, it’s also a fairly simple one to adopt.

How to Apply for an Electronic travel authorization

Before booking a trip to the country, it would be wise to apply for an ELECTRONIC TRAVEL AUTHORIZATION if you’re going after March 14^th, 2016. That’s because, going forward, this will be required of most foreign travelers before being allowed to fly to this country.

Obviously, this means you have to apply for a Electronic travel authorization first. So continue reading as we take you through the simple requirements for obtaining this essential piece of your itinerary.

A Valid Passport

While the Electronic Travel Authorization now requires is basically just an updated visa, you still have to possess a passport before you can acquire one.

The steps for obtaining a passport will differ by country, which involves the cost, application process and how long you’ll have to wait. Keep this mind because although it usually takes just a few minutes to be approved for this authorization, getting a passport can take much longer.

If you’re already a Canadian Citizen, you won’t need to do this. The same goes for those who have dual citizenship somewhere else. United States Citizens don’t actually need it at all, so this is also a non-issue for those who already have the necessary visa.

A Credit Card

The cost for the authorization is just $7 CAD. However, you have to pay with a credit card. The country’s immigration and citizenship department will accept:

• Visa
• MasterCard
• American Express

You can also use prepaid versions of these cards to pay.

An Email Address

This one couldn’t be more straightforward, so we won’t spend much time on it. Just make sure you have a valid email address before applying for this document.

The Application Process

As you probably guessed, applying for a Electronic travel authorization has to be done online through the Citizenship and Immigration (CIC).

In some cases, to get it, you may have to submit a fingerprint. Otherwise, everyone else will have to give some biographical information, like their name, date of birth, etc.

Once you are approved, you’ll need to print out your document so you can present it to officials as necessary.

After you are approved and it out, it will be valid for five years. Given how affordable it is, you might want to apply for this right now in case you ever have to go to this destination on short notice in the future.

 

Do Not Travel to  without an

Starting March 15^th, 2016, you won’t be allowed to enter  without one very important document. While some exceptions apply, for the most part, even if you’ve had no issues entering the country in the past, without an  , you will be barred entry.

Understanding the  

Fortunately, the   is about as straightforward as it gets. It’s actually a lot like the visas people generally need to stay in a foreign country.

However, back in 2013, the United States and  decided they needed to revamp the process by which they allowed people to visit their countries. As they share a border, it made sense that both countries would need to come to some kind of consensus regarding how they would handle visitors.

The result for : an  (Electronic Travel Authorization).

How to Tell if You Need an  

So who needs a  ?

Well, citizens and permanent residents of  do not. United States citizens don’t either. The countries came to an understanding that would allow their people to travel as freely as possible.

However, if you’re from the U.S. and plan to fly there, an   is still required. Traveling by land is the only time you can get away with simply having a passport.

Otherwise, the only other exceptions are those from Miquelon and Saint Pierre in France.

Everyone else must have one. So, for example, people from England were typically considered visa-exempt. This is no longer the case.

Also, even if you simply have a layover in , an  is necessary. You can’t touch ground there—even if you plan on leaving right away for another country—without that all important Electronic Travel Authorization.

The Application Process

Fortunately, acquiring an   is fairly easy and rather quick. Just go to the CIC website, where the application can be found.

Then, as long as you have a valid email address, a valid passport and a credit card for the $7, you should be fine. Prepaid credit cards can be used too.

Some biographical information will have to be provided as well to acquire a  . In some cases, you may also need a fingerprint. Obviously, this will mean a longer wait.

Generally speaking, though, from beginning to end, getting your   should take about five to ten minutes. Then you can just print it out.

So before your trip to , an  is most likely something you’ll have to have on your itinerary.