leniency period

Canada implements leniency period for Electronic Travel Authorization until Fall 2016

March 14, 2016 Henry J. Chang, Dentons LLP Corporate Immigration, HR Policies and Procedures, Human Resources, Privacy and Security, Recruiting and Hiring

On April 1, 2015, Citizenship and Immigration Canada published regulations implementing its Electronic Travel Authorization (“eTA”) program. The regulations initially required eTAs to be mandatory as of March 15, 2016. Fortunately, the new Liberal Government has decided to delay the enforcement of the eTA requirement until Fall 2016 (no exact end date has been announced) by implementing a “leniency period.” During the leniency period, visa-exempt foreign nationals who do not have an eTA will still be permitted to enter Canada as long as they have appropriate travel documents, such as a valid passport. Nevertheless, visa-exempt foreign nationals are encouraged to obtain an eTA as soon as possible.

Canada, CIC, Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Electronic Travel Authorization, eTA, leniency period, Temporary Resident Visa, TRV, Visa, visa-exempt