The published IRCC process for visiting Canada: whether you need a temporary resident visa or an electronic travel authorization, the documents for each purpose of visit, biometrics, fees, and what the border officer decides on arrival.
Applies in: across Canada
This guide covers one application only: a visitor visa to Canada, formally a temporary resident visa (TRV), and the electronic travel authorization (eTA) that some travellers need instead. It is not a guide to a study permit, a work permit, or permanent residence, although it explains how those documents interact with travel documents. It states the published process as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) states it. It is not immigration advice for your situation: whether you need a visa, an eTA, or neither depends on your passport, your mode of travel, and your purpose, and an officer decides both the application and admission on arrival. Use IRCC's entry-requirements check for your own passport before you apply, and read the IRCC pages linked in the Sources section on the day you apply.
The first decision is not which form to complete. It is which document your travel requires. IRCC draws the distinction by nationality and by mode of travel, not by how long you plan to stay or what you plan to do. By law, all visitors require a visa to travel to Canada unless otherwise exempt, and the type of screening depends largely on nationality. Travellers from visa-required countries apply for a TRV with comprehensive screening, including biometrics and an assessment of intent. Travellers from visa-exempt countries who fly to or transit through a Canadian airport apply online for the lighter-touch eTA. A third group, citizens of certain visa-required countries who meet stated conditions, may apply for an eTA instead of a visa when flying. Applying for the wrong document wastes the fee and the waiting time, so settle the document question first.
Start with IRCC's entry-requirements tool, which asks for your citizenship, passport type, mode of travel, and purpose, and returns the document you need. Do not rely on a list copied from a secondary source: the lists change when Canada lifts or imposes visa requirements, and the tool applies the current rules to your facts. The framework IRCC states is:
Two eTA traps are stated on IRCC's pages and worth noting before you book. First, the eTA expansion does not extend to surface travel: travellers from an eligible visa-required country still need a valid visitor visa to drive from the United States, or to arrive by bus, train, or boat, including a cruise ship stopover even if they do not leave the ship. Second, an eTA issued when a work or study permit is approved is tied to that permit's lifecycle in the way IRCC describes for renewals: a traveller flying back after renewing a permit may be given an eTA, but must apply for a new visa for car, bus, train, or boat travel. When in doubt between an eTA and a visa for mixed-mode travel, IRCC's scenario table recommends the visa as the more flexible document.
A visitor visa application is decided on temporary intent, funds, and admissibility. IRCC's application pages state the basic entry requirements: a valid travel document such as a passport; good health; no criminal or immigration-related convictions; ties such as a job, home, financial assets, or family that will take you back to your home country; convincing an officer you will leave Canada at the end of your visit; and enough money for your stay, with the amount depending on length of stay and whether you stay in a hotel or with friends or relatives. Inadmissibility can arise from criminal activity, human rights violations, organized crime, or security, health, or financial reasons. A complete, honest application that answers those points directly is the whole strategy: IRCC does not publish a points threshold or a funds formula for visitor visas, and any secondary source that states one is inventing it.
The reason for travel determines the way you apply and the documents you submit. IRCC's How to apply page is organized by purpose, including visiting family, visiting as a tourist, compassionate reasons, joining a vessel as marine crew, and visiting a spouse or partner who sponsored you for permanent residence. Follow the purpose-specific instructions for your situation rather than a generic checklist, because the supporting documents differ by purpose. The personalized document checklist the portal generates for your answers is the authoritative list for your application: IRCC states you must provide all the documents on that checklist. The sections below describe the documents IRCC lists across purposes, not a substitute for that checklist.
All applicants need a digital copy of a valid, not expired, passport or travel document. IRCC states the passport or travel document should be valid for at least 6 months from the date you plan to travel, and if you need to renew it, do it before you apply. Provide a clear colour copy showing the page with your birth date and country or territory of origin and any pages with stamps, visas, or markings. A travel document must be government-issued and include your name, date of birth, document number, citizenship or residence status, photo, and expiry date where applicable. IRCC does not accept any passport issued by Somalia, non-machine-readable passports issued by the Czech Republic, temporary passports issued by South Africa, or provisional passports issued by Venezuela. A letter authorizing a minor child to travel may also be needed, depending on whether the child travels alone.
Beyond the passport, IRCC's purpose-specific instructions list supporting documents that show travel history, itinerary, funds, employment, and invitation, where they apply to your purpose:
Your local visa office may require additional documents. IRCC directs applicants to state where they are applying from to get the visa office requirements for their country or territory. Check those instructions before you submit, and check the visa office instructions again if you change the country from which you apply. Forms vary by purpose and office: the visitor visa form is IMM 5257, family information is IMM 5645 where the checklist requires it, and representative forms IMM 5476 and IMM 5475 apply only where you use a representative or authorize release of information to another person. Each applicant must fill out and sign their own form, including family members travelling together, and a parent or guardian must sign for an applicant under 18.
Most applicants apply online. IRCC states you must apply online, but you may apply on paper if you cannot apply online, including for reasons of a disability, or if you are travelling with an identity or travel document issued to a refugee, a stateless person, or a non-citizen. To apply online you need a scanner or camera to create electronic copies of your documents and a valid credit or debit card. IRCC offers two portal routes on the How to apply page: the IRCC Portal, and the IRCC Portal new version for applicants who are 18 or older, applying alone, have never applied before, and are not using a representative. The IRCC Secure account is the third route IRCC lists. Read the instruction guide, Guide 5256, before completing the application; as an online applicant you can ignore the guide's steps on paying fees and submitting the application, which the portal handles.
Fees are verified on IRCC's fee list and the How to apply page, re-checked on November 1, 2026. The visitor visa processing fee is $100.00 per individual, or $500.00 for a family of 5 or more people applying at the same time and place, for a single or multiple entry visa, with IRCC deciding which type to issue. The biometrics fee is $85.00 per individual and up to $170.00 per family where eligible. The eTA fee is $7.00 on the fee list. IRCC states fees are requested at the end of the application, that in most cases fees include processing and biometrics for everyone included on the application, and that a first-time applicant must pay the biometrics fee when submitting the application unless exempt, or delays may follow. Some applicants may be exempt from some or all fees. Confirm the amounts on the fee list on the day you pay. No processing-time figure is stated in this guide: IRCC publishes processing times through its processing-time tool by application type and visa office, and a figure copied from any other source would be stale on arrival.
After submission, wait for the biometrics instruction letter if biometrics apply, then book the collection appointment as soon as possible to avoid processing delays. IRCC states you may be asked for an interview or additional documents during processing, and that when a decision is made, you are told whether you are approved and issued your documents. If refused, the refusal letter tells you why. Keep the payment receipt, the submission confirmation, and copies of every document uploaded: the file you submitted is the record any later application or extension must be consistent with.
Biometrics are your fingerprints and a digital photo. IRCC collects them for most temporary residence applications, including visitor visas, study permits, and work permits. If you are between 14 and 79 years old, you probably need to give them, and you generally need to give them only once every 10 years to make repeat trips easier. You must pay the biometrics fee when you submit the application, get the collection done as soon as you receive the letter telling you to give biometrics, and you have 30 days from the date on that letter. Processing begins in earnest after IRCC receives your biometrics.
Exemptions exist, and IRCC provides a tool to find out whether you need to give biometrics rather than a rule you should guess from. The exemptions IRCC lists on its biometrics pages include visa-exempt visitors applying for an eTA, citizens of visa-exempt countries applying to extend a stay, children aged 13 and under and applicants aged 80 and over at the time of application, and United States nationals applying for temporary residence, among others. There are also reasons you might need to give biometrics again even while earlier biometrics remain valid, including biometrics expiring soon, a refused permanent residence application, or only partial biometrics having been given. Check the tool for your application, and do not pay or attend on assumption in either direction.
If approved, travel with the documents IRCC gave you. Airline staff and border services officers will ask to see your travel documents, and without them you may not be able to board your flight. Children under 18 must travel with the right documents for their situation. On arrival, identity is checked against the approval, including biometrics where applicable, and the border services officer stamps the passport and tells you how long you can stay. A visitor visa can be issued for up to 10 years or until the expiry of your passport or biometrics, whichever comes first, but the length of any single stay is the officer's decision at entry, recorded by the stamp or a visitor record. Follow the date on the stamp or visitor record: it governs when you must leave, and an extension of stay is a separate application made before that date passes, with its own $100.00 fee on the fee list.
A visitor visa does not authorize work or study in Canada. If you plan to study for more than 6 months or to work, you need the study or work permit for that activity, and IRCC issues the related travel document with an approved permit as its pages describe. The super visa, for parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, is a separate category listed alongside visitor visas on IRCC's application pages, with its own requirements and longer authorized stays; this guide does not state its stay length or insurance requirements, because they could not be verified on an official page, and parents and grandparents should read IRCC's super visa pages before choosing between a visitor visa and a super visa. If your plans change while you are in Canada, check IRCC's pages for extending a stay, changing conditions, or applying for a different status before the current authorized stay ends: overstaying an authorized stay creates an immigration history that follows every later application.
This guide states no processing time for a visitor visa or an eTA, because IRCC publishes processing times only through its processing-time tool by visa office, and they vary. It states no minimum funds amount for a visitor visa, because IRCC states no fixed minimum on the pages. It states no complete list of visa-required or visa-exempt countries, because the lists change and IRCC's entry-requirements tool governs your passport. It states no super visa stay length or insurance figure, and no extension-of-stay processing time. Where a figure was cut, the guide points to the IRCC page or tool that owns it instead of carrying a secondary source's number.
Yes, in most cases you need an electronic travel authorization. IRCC states that an eTA is required for most visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to or transiting through Canada by air, and that the requirement does not apply to travel by land, sea, or rail, with the exception of travel by vessel directly from Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. An eTA is electronically linked to the passport used to apply, is valid for 5 years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, and costs $7.00 on IRCC's fee list. If you arrive by land or sea, you generally need only a valid passport. United States citizens are the principal exception to the eTA requirement, and lawful permanent residents of the United States have not needed an eTA to fly since April 26, 2022. Do not confuse the eTA with a visa: it is a lighter pre-travel screening for travellers whose nationality already exempts them from a visa.
A single-entry visa allows one entry, while a multiple-entry visa allows repeated entries while it remains valid. IRCC's fee list states the same $100.00 fee applies to both types and that IRCC decides which visa to give you based on your application. IRCC's visitor visa application page states a visitor visa can be issued for up to 10 years or until the expiry date of either your passport or biometrics, whichever comes first, and that an officer may set a different expiry date depending on your circumstances. You do not choose the type or the validity period by paying a different fee. Apply once, with the full supporting documents for your purpose, and read the validity dates on the visa you receive before booking return travel that depends on re-entry.
IRCC states no fixed minimum amount on the pages, and this guide states none. The test IRCC describes is whether you have enough money for your stay, with the amount depending on how long you will stay and whether you will stay in a hotel or with friends or relatives. The visitor visa application page recommends a bank account statement showing at least 6 months of account details, including balances, with the bank name and contact information and proof the account is yours, so the officer can understand your financial situation. Bring the same logic to every other funds document: a statement that shows steady funds and a credible source is the evidence, not a single balance on a single day. If someone in Canada is supporting your stay, the letter of invitation and the host's documents should say so plainly, with the host's status and contact details, rather than leaving the officer to infer it.
Biometrics are fingerprints and a photo, collected in most temporary residence applications for applicants between 14 and 79 years old, and you generally need to give them only once every 10 years. IRCC's biometrics pages list the exemptions, which include children aged 13 and under at the time the application was submitted, applicants aged 80 and over, visa-exempt visitors applying for an eTA, and certain other categories, and IRCC provides a tool to find out whether you need to give biometrics for your application. If your biometrics remain valid from an earlier application, you should not need to give them again for a new temporary residence application, but check the tool rather than assuming: IRCC notes there are reasons you might need to give them again even while they remain valid, including biometrics expiring soon or only partial biometrics having been given. Pay the biometrics fee when you submit the application unless you are exempt, and give biometrics within 30 days of the instruction letter.
No. A study permit or work permit is not a visa, and IRCC states it will not automatically issue a visitor visa when it extends a work or study permit. If you need a new visitor visa to leave and return to Canada, you need to submit a separate application, and IRCC publishes a separate inside-Canada process for holders of a valid study or work permit whose existing visitor visa has expired, is about to expire, or was valid for only one entry. That process requires you to be already in Canada, hold a valid study or work permit, want to leave and return in the near future, and meet the other criteria on the inside-Canada page. Do not leave Canada expecting to re-enter on an expired visa, and do not assume the permit extension in your hand is a travel document: check the inside-Canada visitor visa instructions before you book travel.
No. A visa or an eTA authorizes travel to Canada; admission is decided at the port of entry. IRCC states that when you arrive, identity is checked to make sure you are the same person who was approved, and a border services officer stamps the passport and tells you how long you can stay. The officer may also decide you are not admissible for reasons including criminal activity, human rights violations, organized crime, or security, health, or financial grounds. Travel with the documents IRCC gave you and the supporting documents for your visit, including proof of funds and your return plans, because airline staff and border officers will ask to see your travel documents and you may not be able to board or enter without them. If the officer stamps your passport and writes a date, or gives you a visitor record, that date governs your stay: leave by it or apply to extend before it passes.
Figures that could not be verified on an official page were cut from this guide: all visitor visa and eTA processing times; any minimum proof-of-funds amount; the complete lists of visa-required and visa-exempt countries; all super visa stay lengths and insurance figures; and any extension-of-stay processing time. Check IRCC's entry-requirements tool, processing-time tool, biometrics tool, and fee list linked above for current figures before you apply or travel.