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Planning to visit Canada?

Every year, Canada welcomes nearly 50 million people from other countries who come here temporarily. We are pleased that you want to come to Canada and that you would like to find out about the various visa requirements to do so. These can vary depending on the purpose and length of your visit and your country of citizenship.

Whether you plan on visiting Canada for a few days or several months, you must meet some important immigration requirements. This pamphlet will help you find out about these requirements before you make final travel plans.

In order to visit Canada:

• you must be in good health and a law-abiding person, and you must have enough money to support yourself and your dependants during your stay;
• in most cases, you will need a valid passport, proof of identity or other travel documents;
• you must have a temporary resident visa to travel to Canada if you are a citizen of one of a number of countries; and
• you may need a study or work permit if you are coming to study or work.

If requested, certain people must have a medical exam. They include:

• some foreign nationals who are applying to stay in Canada for more than six months and who, during the one-year period immediately before seeking entry to Canada, have lived for six consecutive months in a designated country or territory that has a higher incidence of serious communicable diseases than Canada. Please see the Designated Country/Territory list in the Visitors section of the CIC Web site at www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/dcl.html;
• applicants intending to work in an occupation in which the protection of public health is essential (for example, teachers, child-care workers, live-in caregivers and health-care workers).

Before you leave home …

If you require a temporary resident visa, you must obtain it before you come to Canada. To find out whether you need a temporary resident visa, which documents you will need to include with your application for one, and how long it will take to receive it, visit the CIC Web site at www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit or contact the visa office of the Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate that serves your place of residence. There are Canadian visa offices in 88 cities throughout the world. Please visit www.cic.gc.ca/english/offices/missions.html for more information.

If you want to work or study, apply early. It will take time to receive all the papers and certificates you will need (you may have to get some from Canada). A study or work permit can be processed in a matter of days or it can take up to six months, depending on how quickly you can provide the necessary supporting documents and whether a medical examination is required.

Cost-recovery processing fees apply for temporary resident visas and work or study permits. There is also a cost-recovery processing fee for an application to extend temporary resident status in Canada.

For information on processing fees, please see our brochure Fee Schedule for Citizenship and Immigration Services or ask an immigration officer. There are no refunds for unsuccessful applicants.

Before leaving home, you should also get a health insurance plan to pay for any emergency hospital or medical services you may need while in Canada.

Have your papers ready
when you arrive in Canada

When you arrive in Canada, an officer will interview you.

You can help make the immigration interview as short as possible by answering all questions simply and honestly. You should have your passport and other documents with you and ready to show the officer, rather than in your checked luggage.

Check your visa or passport

Upon arrival in Canada, your passport or travel documents may be stamped to indicate how long you may stay in Canada. If you do not receive notice otherwise, you may remain in Canada for six months.

Please make sure you understand when you will have to leave. If you have any questions about how long you can stay in Canada, be sure to ask a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer upon your arrival or an immigration officer during your stay.

Under special circumstances, you
may be allowed to extend your visit

You may have your period of authorized stay in Canada extended, or your conditions of entry changed.

For example, if you have come to visit family and wish to stay longer for a special reason, such as a wedding, you may be allowed to extend your stay. This is possible only if you apply by mail to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta, before the end of your authorized stay. To obtain a temporary resident (visitor) extension, you will need to apply at least 30 days before the expiry of your authorized stay.

Normally, you are not allowed to change your status once you are in Canada. For example, a tourist cannot accept a job or become a student. Check the conditions on your work or study permit (if you obtained one). If you wish to change the conditions (for example, if you want to change employers), you must apply for a new work or study permit by mail to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta.

You must follow the conditions of your stay. Conditions may be specified on your visitor record or your study or work permit.

Enforcement of the Immigration
and Refugee Protection Act

On your arrival in Canada, if the CBSA officer believes you may not respect your conditions of entry, you may be asked for a substantial cash deposit or other security to ensure that you will respect the terms of your entry.

If you give incomplete or false information and identification, you may be refused entry. If you do not respect your conditions of entry by working or attending courses without permission, staying longer than authorized, or threatening law and order in Canada, you may be removed from the country after a special immigration hearing.

Canadian law applies to you while you are in Canada. Foreign nationals who commit an offence while in Canada could be subject to prosecution and barred from returning to Canada for varying periods of time. This is because Canada’s immigration law is meant to protect the people who live in Canada and those who come to visit.

For more information

For more information on Citizenship and Immigration Canada, contact us at:

Internet

www.cic.gc.ca

Telephone

If you are in Canada, contact the CIC Call Centre at
1 888 242-2100.

Automated telephone service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and Call Centre agents are available Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., your local time.

If you are hearing impaired and use a text telephone, you can access the TTY service Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. by calling 1 888 576-8502.

If you are outside Canada, contact the Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate responsible for your region.

Mail

Citizenship and Immigration Canada
Ottawa, ON K1A 1L1

Fax

(613) 952-5533

Planning a visit to Canada? Log on to the Canadian Tourism Commission’s Web site at www.travelcanada.ca for tourism information.

This is not a legal document. For precise legal information, consult the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.

© Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada, 2005
Cat. no. Ci51-189/2005
0-662-69028-1
C&I-197-05-05