By Gabriela Baron
Some eligible Filipinos are now allowed to enter Canada without a visa, the Embassy of Canada to the Philippines announced Wednesday, June 7.
Filipino citizens who have either held a Canadian visa in the last 10 years or those who currently hold a valid United States (US) non-immigrant visa can apply for an electronic travel authorization (eTA) instead of a visa when traveling to Canada.
The Embassy said this is to recognize the importance of expanding and simplifying travel between the two countries.
“Canada values our relationship with the Philippines. With the well-established Filipino diaspora in Canada, along with an increasing number of students and tourists from [the Philippines], the Embassy wrote in a Twitter post.
An ETA is a digital travel document that most visa-exempt visitors need to travel to or transit through Canada by air.
The eTA application is used by Canadian officials to conduct light-touch, pre-travel screening of air visitors.
“Introducing visa-free air travel will make it faster, easier & more affordable for thousands of known travellers from [the] Philippines,” the Embassy noted.
“It will also help facilitate more travel, tourism and international business between our countries, and help strengthen people-to-people and cultural ties,” it added.
Filipinos are allowed to visit Canada for up to six months for either business or leisure purposes.
This decision complements with Canadian government’s existing mobility measures for the Philippines, like the country’s membership in Canada’s Transit Without Visa program, which allows eligible Filipino nationals to fly through Canada on their way to or from the US without a Canadian visa and the Student Direct Stream, which offers expedited study permit processing to those who are applying to study in Canada.
Meanwhile, Filipinos not eligible to visit Canada by air will still need a visitor’s visa.
Interested travelers may visit http://Canada.ca/etA to find out if they are eligible for an eTA and how to apply for one.
It costs CAD7 or approximately P293 to apply and most applications are automatically approved within minutes.
To apply for an eTA, travelers only need a valid passport, a credit card, an email address, and Internet access.
-ag
