Who Requires an eTA for Temporarily Entering Canada?- Who Requires a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) for Temporarily Entering Canada?
- eTA Immigration Resources
Date: August 29, 2026
“Whether you get an eTA or a TRV depends on your country of citizenship and the way you travel”
Who Requires an eTA for Temporarily Entering Canada?
If your country of birth has been indicated as a Visa-Exempt country for entering Canada temporarily, then there is no need to apply for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV). Instead, the applicant must apply for an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) permit that is superior to a TRV in its reduction in cost and processing time.
Canada uses the Visa Exemption / Framework for determining which countries are visa-exempt for entering Canada temporarily. The framework weighs the benefits against the risks on criteria such as immigration compliance, economic benefits, travel volume, passport security, and potential safety or security risks. They don’t allow a country a visa-exempt status simply because they share the same governmental system and societal values.
The top 5 countries that are visa-exempt for entering Canada temporarily include the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico. An applicant can check if their country is visa-exempt by using the Government of Canada Entry Requirements Tool.
An eTA is a digital permit that is applied for on the Governments Official eTA website. An eTA is digitally linked to your passport, costs $7.00 CAD to process, and lasts up to 5 years. If the applicant wishes to check if they already possess an eTA provided automatically from an OWP, they can use the official eTA Check Status tool.
An eTA is automatically provided alongside the renewal of an Open Work Permit if the applicant is from a Visa Exempt Country. Some countries change visa-required status over time as IRCC revisits countries with the Visa Exemption / Framework and conducts another cost-benefit analysis. For example, the Philippines was a visa-required country and not exempt from obtaining a TRV, however new rules indicate that if the Filipino client held a TRV in the past 10 years, they now qualify for an eTA.
That’s great because an eTA costs less money and is faster to process than a TRV. A TRV has more criteria and policy that must be reflected in the clients application to have the application approved.
Who Requires a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) for Temporarily Entering Canada?
If your country is not listed in the list of visa-exempt countries, then you will require a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to enter Canada by airplane. If your country is a visa-required country, then you will require a Visitor Visa (VV) to enter Canada temporarily which is exactly the same as a TRV.
If you are an international student in Canada on a valid study permit from India or China and plan on returning home temporarily and then re-entering Canada, you must apply for a TRV. The applicant must log into their IRCC secure account and create a new TRV application, fill out typed form data, upload documents, ensure the application is complete against application requirements, pay the fees and submit the application online, and keep in contact with IRCC application updates.
For example, we have a client from the Philippines who entered Canada on a Visitor Visa (VV) accompanying his wife as an International Student at Seneca College on a Study Permit (SP) and had multiple extensions of his Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) until he found an employer that offered him a position of sheet metal fabricator (NOC 72102) where Lawseph processed the SOWP assisting him on completing the pathway of Express Entry Trades to Permanent Residence.
The client wishes to return home to the Philippines and return to Canada to finish his Express Entry Trades Pathway. Since the Philippines is sometimes a visa-exempt country, we are applying for an eTA on behalf of our client because he held a TRV within the past 10 years and the eTA costs 7$ compared to $100-185 and doesn’t have to pass several categorical checkpoints to be approved.
eTA Immigration Resources
- Official IRCC eTA Application
Official IRCC eTA Application
- Visa-Exempt Country Checker
Government of Canada Entry Requirements Tool
- eTA Status Checker
Official eTA Status Checker
