Temporary Resident Visas
How to Get Approved for a Business or Tourism Visa
Are you planning on visiting Canada soon? Whether for business or tourism, your country of residence will determine whether or not you will need a visa to step inside the nation’s borders. With your Temporary Resident Visa, you will be permitted to enter Canada legally for several purposes, from conducting limited businesses activities as a business visitor to visiting family and friends.
There are, as always, certain exceptions to the rule. If you’re a Foreign National who is a citizen of one of the nations listed here, you will not need a Temporary Resident Visa to enter Canada. However, you may need to organize Electronic Travel Authorization before you can fly to Canada. Any Foreign National hailing from a country not mentioned in the above list will need to obtain their Temporary Resident Visa before they will be allowed to enter Canada.
What about spouses and dependents? If you will be residing in Canada temporarily and wish to bring your family along, they may also need to acquire a Temporary Resident Visa depending on the country of origin. Remember to check this list to confirm.
It’s important to note that Temporary Resident Visas do not permit Foreign Nationals to work during their stay in Canada. If you do wish to work during your stay, you need to make sure that you apply for the correct immigration document. In this sense, there is a big difference between a Temporary Resident Visa and a Work Permit…
The prior allows foreign nationals to enter and stay in Canada as tourists, while the latter lets you engage in employment activities in Canada (for this, you’ll need to obtain a work permit from a Canadian Consulate, Embassy, or High Commission abroad.
Types of Temporary Resident Visas
There are three types of Temporary Resident Visas, they are:
- Single Entry Visa – this allows the foreign national only one entry into Canada;
- Multiple Entry Visa – this allows the foreign national unlimited entry into Canada pending the validity of the Visa; and
- Transit Visa – this allows entry to Canada for foreign nationals who are travelling and who stop in Canada for less that forty-eight (48) hours, but who’s country of origin is one that requires a visa.
Any foreign national interested in working in Canada will need to apply for and successfully obtain a work permit. If you plan on travelling in and out of Canada during your time here, you may also need to organize a Temporary Resident Visa. However, whether or not you need one will all depend on your country of origin.
Foreign Nationals Exempt from Obtaining A Temporary Residence Visa
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Individuals lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence;
If you reside in any of the below regions, you will be lawfully exempt from needing to organize a Temporary Resident Visa!
British citizens or citizens of British-dependent territories whose citizenship derives through birth, descent, registration, or naturalization in any of the British-dependent territories. These include Anguilla, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena, the Turks, and Caicos Islands.
You will also be exempt if you hold a valid, subsisting Special Administrative Region passport that was issued by the Government of Hong Kong’s Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Last but not least, anyone who holds a passport or travel document issued by the Holy See will be exempt from needing a Temporary Resident Visa!
Does any of the above sound like you? If so, let’s chat about your visa today!
Medical Examinations
Foreign nationals who plan to visit Canada for more than six (6) months, and who have resided in certain countries within a year prior to their arrival in Canada will be required to undergo a medical examination prior to being granted a Temporary Resident Visa.
For further information regarding the procedures for applying for a Temporary Resident Visa, please contact us.
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