These 13 Countries Are The Newest Additions To Canada’s Visa-Free Travel Program

by Vaishalee Kalvankar
These 13 Countries Are The Newest Additions To Canada’s Visa-Free Travel Program

Visa-free travel seriously acts like a boon, like totally! I am sure all you travellers will surely agree to this. Applying for a visa, awaiting its arrival, and all the processes in between surely get very tedious at times. Well, not for Canada anymore, because some countries just got lucky. Sean Fraser, Canada’s Immigration Minister, announced the addition of 13 more countries to Canada’s Visa-Free Travel program.

New Additions To Canada’s Visa-Free Travel Program

The Minister of Immigration Refugees, and Citizenship of Canada, Sean Fraser, visited Winnipeg to announce the news. Those who are eligible can easily apply to the Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) program. 

Travellers from the newly added countries can explore Canada without having a temporary residence visa. This, however, only applies to citizens of these countries who have held a Canadian visa within the last ten years or who currently hold a valid non-immigrant visa from the United States. 

Here is the list of countries that have been added!

Morocco
Antigua and Barbuda
St Lucia
Trinidad and Tobago
Costa Rica
Seychelles
Philippines
Panama
St Kitts and Nevis
St Vincent and Grenadines
Argentina
Uruguay
Thailand

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More Individuals To Embark On Adventures In Canada

Fraser said that this new development will help more people visit the country, explore its landmarks, meet their family and friends, and experience the vibrant culture without the stress of visa requirements. 

He mentioned how the country’s bond with these 13 countries will improve. It will also give a boost to the tourism and economic sectors, apart from making travel easy for travellers.

IRCC (Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada) has been making efforts to make pre-travel screening faster, cheaper, and easier. According to Sean, this decision will divert thousands of visa applications away from Canada’s caseload, allowing the IRCC to process visa applications more efficiently. (As per CIC News)

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What are your views on this?

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