Three Doors, and Your Nationality Chooses Which One
This replaces the general rule for you
The Only Exemption in the Section That Is Not a Citizenship
Paragraph 190(1)(c) exempts a national of the United States from the temporary resident visa, and in the same breath exempts a person who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Every other exemption in section 190 turns on a citizenship or a travel document; this one reaches an immigration status granted by a third country. Section 7.1(3)(b) then exempts the same two groups from the electronic travel authorization, so a United States green card holder of any nationality arrives in Canada carrying neither document.
Canada does not sort visitors into visa and no visa. It sorts them into three. A citizen of a country named in Schedule 1.1 needs no visa, and flying in needs only an electronic travel authorization. A citizen of one of the seventeen countries in the table to section 7.01 needs a visa or an authorization, and may apply for the authorization only if they have held a Canadian visa at some point in the previous ten years or hold a valid United States nonimmigrant visa. Everyone else applies for a temporary resident visa. The middle class is the one no summary mentions, and most of this corpus is in it.
At a glance
- Who needs a visa
- Everyone the Regulations do not exempt
The exemptions are in section 190 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.
- Where the exempt list is
- Schedule 1.1 to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
Of this corpus the Schedule names the Bahamas, Barbados, Chile, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain.
- The middle class
- Seventeen countries in the table to section 7.01
An authorization instead of a visa, but only on a condition about documents you already hold.
- That condition
- A Canadian visa at any time in the last 10 years, or a valid United States nonimmigrant visa
Subsection 7.01(2).
- What the exemption follows
- Citizenship, except for United States permanent residents
Paragraph 190(1)(c) names lawful permanent residents of the United States beside its nationals. It is the only immigration status in the section that is not a citizenship.
Requirements
- A temporary resident visa, unless section 190 of the Regulations exempts you
- For a Schedule 1.1 citizen arriving by air: an electronic travel authorization
- For a citizen named in the table to section 7.01: a visa, or an authorization if you meet the condition
What applies to you
The Only Exemption in the Section That Is Not a Citizenship
Paragraph 190(1)(c) exempts a national of the United States from the temporary resident visa, and in the same breath exempts a person who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence. Every other exemption in section 190 turns on a citizenship or a travel document; this one reaches an immigration status granted by a third country. Section 7.1(3)(b) then exempts the same two groups from the electronic travel authorization, so a United States green card holder of any nationality arrives in Canada carrying neither document.
- Nothing, for entry as a visitor: no visa and no electronic travel authorization
What the law says
«11 (1) A foreign national must, before entering Canada, apply to an officer for a visa or for any other document required by the regulations. The visa or document may be issued if, following an examination, the officer is satisfied that the foreign national is not inadmissible and meets the requirements of this Act.»The requirement itself. Everything below is an exemption from it rather than an alternative to it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«190 (1) A foreign national is exempt from the requirement to obtain a temporary resident visa if they - (a) are a citizen of a country listed in Schedule 1.1;»About this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Andorra - Australia - Austria - Bahamas - Barbados - Belgium - Brunei Darussalam - Bulgaria - Chile - Croatia - Cyprus - Czech Republic - Denmark - Estonia - Federal Republic of Germany - Finland - France - Greece - Hungary - Iceland - Ireland - Italy - Japan - Latvia - Liechtenstein - Lithuania - Luxembourg - Malta - Monaco - Netherlands - New Zealand - Norway - Papua New Guinea - Poland - Portugal - Qatar - Republic of Korea - Samoa - San Marino - Singapore - Slovakia - Slovenia - Solomon Islands - Spain - Sweden - Switzerland - United Arab Emirates»The Schedule as printed, in the order it is printed. It is a list of states and nothing else: no condition, no reciprocity clause, no date.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«7.01 (1) Despite subsection 7(1), a foreign national who is a citizen of a country listed in the table to this subsection and who is seeking to enter Canada by air may not enter Canada to remain on a temporary basis without first obtaining a temporary resident visa or an electronic travel authorization.»About this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Brazil Costa Rica Indonesia Malaysia Mexico Morocco Panama Philippines Seychelles St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Vincent and the Grenadines Thailand Trinidad and Tobago Uruguay»The table prints the countries and nothing else. It spells three of them 'St.' where the rest of the corpus says 'Saint'.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(2) A foreign national referred to in subsection (1) may only make an application for an electronic travel authorization if they - (a) have held a temporary resident visa at any time during the 10-year period immediately preceding the day on which they make their application; or - (b) hold a valid United States nonimmigrant visa on the day on which they make their application.»Both limbs are about documents already held. A first-time traveller from one of these seventeen countries satisfies neither and applies for a visa.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
«(c) are a national of the United States or a person who has been lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence.»About this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Schedule 1.1 and the table to section 7.01 are both written into the Regulations, so a country moves between them by amendment and the amendment is visible. What is asked at the application is not: that lives in ministerial instructions the Justice Laws Website does not publish.
An authorization is not an admission. Section 11 makes the document a precondition of applying to enter, and the officer at the border decides separately.
- consolidatesImmigration and Refugee Protection Act
Justice Laws Website, Department of Justice Canada
About this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source
- consolidatesImmigration and Refugee Protection Regulations
Justice Laws Website, Department of Justice Canada
About this source
Canada's consolidated federal statutes and regulations, served whole as plain HTML at a stable address built from the Act's chapter or the regulation's registration number. Each consolidation states the date it is current to and the last amendment applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: The consolidations are official under the Legislation Revision and Consolidation Act, but the site itself warns that where a consolidation and the original statute differ, the original prevails. The date a page is current to is printed in a side panel our capture does not carry, so a stored reading here shows the text without the line that dates it. Immigration practice in Canada also sits largely in ministerial instructions and programme delivery guidance, which are not law and are not published here, and Quebec selects its own immigrants under an accord this site does not carry.
We re-read it every 60 days. More about this source