New “Leniency Period” Announced for ETAs

The government had previously announced that starting March 15, most nationals from countries that are visa-exempt (except for Americans) will be required to apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) prior to flying into Canada.  See here for more details.

However, the government has recently announced that there will be a “Leniency Period” from now until an unspecified date in the fall of 2016 when travellers will be able to enter Canada without an ETA.  If you have already applied for an ETA, please see below for details on how this might affect you: 

• If you’ve applied for an ETA and have received an approval, then you should travel with the ETA and the passport that you had used for your ETA application.

• If you’ve applied for an ETA and have not yet received a decision, you can travel to Canada.  Make sure that you double check your email before travelling though to ensure that you did not receive a decision.

• If you’ve applied for an ETA and have received a negative decision, you cannot travel to Canada until you apply again and receive a positive decision.  Contact us for more information on how to do so.

Contact us at (416) 548-9101, or at inquiries@www.lmlawgroup.com if you have had your ETA rejected and need to enter Canada. 

To sign up for our newsletter to ensure that you will receive future emails on immigration changes, click here.