Visitor Visa

Visitor Visa

Visit Canada as a visitor

A visitor visa (also called a temporary resident visa) is an official document that IRCC stick in your passport. It shows that you meet the requirements needed to enter Canada.

Most travelers need a visitor visa to travel to Canada. You may also need one if you’re transiting through a Canadian airport on your way to your final destination.

You can apply for a visitor visa online or on paper.

How long you can stay

Most visitors can stay for up to 6 months in Canada. At the port of entry, the border services officer may allow you to stay for less or more than 6 months. If so, they’ll put the date you need to leave by in your passport. They might also give you a document, called a visitor record, which will show the date you need to leave by.

If you don’t get a stamp in your passport, you can stay for 6 months from the day you entered Canada or until your passport expires, whichever comes first. If you need a stamp, you can ask a border services officer for one. If you arrive at an airport that uses primary inspection kiosks, ask the border officer after you finish at the kiosk.

Before arriving in Canada by flight, citizens of nations without visa requirements are expected to have applied for and received an electronic travel authorization (eTA). The only exceptions to this rule are American citizens, who are exempt from needing either a TRV or an electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), and Green Card holders in the US, all of whom require an eTA in order to enter Canada. Individuals that require a TRV do not also need an eTA, and vice versa, unless they are exempt from either requirement.

​A document called a TRV, which is issued by a Canadian Immigration Visa Office outside of Canada, certifies that the possessor has met the requirements for visitor entrance to Canada. Both single entry and multiple entry TRVs are possible. Tourists are often permitted entry for a duration of six months. International students and temporary foreign employees may be admitted for a variety of terms that are decided on a case-by-case basis. You can request extensions from anywhere in Canada.

​It is crucial to remember that simply having a TRV in good standing does not guarantee that the officer at the Canadian Port of Entry will allow the tourist entry. Every tourist to Canada is required to prove, at the Port of Entry, that their stay is just temporary. All individuals who, in the officers' judgement, do not plan to depart Canada after their visitor status expires will not be allowed entry at the Port of Entry.