Ways To Obtain Canada Visa
Update: To slow down the spread of COVID-19, some changes have been made by the Canadian government to Immigration protocols.
There is no doubt that getting a Canadian visa is not quite easy. Lots of steps have to be completed before one can have a successful application. Most of the steps involved take months or years, before getting completed.
What is a Canada Visa?
Canada Visa, is a pass into Canada, without the visa, you will be denied entry into the country. The visa is always stamped on your passport, will always be requested for at the Port of entry.
With the visa, you will be legally permitted to enter the country, to either have a permanent or temporary stay. Getting a visa to Canada, means the Canadian embassy in your home country, has decided that you meet the requirements, and you are eligible for a visa to Canada. Regardless of being approved for a visa at the Canadian embassy in your home country, the Canadian official will still ask you questions, to be sure you truly qualified for the visa, if they suspect that you do not qualify for it, you will be returned to your home country with the next available flight.
Who Needs A Canadian Visa?
If your country does not have a visa exemption to Canada, you will need a visa to enter Canada. Also, people from these 148 countries will need a visa to enter Canada. An exception of those who do not need a visa, are those that have electronic travel authorization with Canada.
If you are part of those that will need a visa, before being able to enter Canada, then you will need to apply for one, there are different ways to obtain a Canada Visa, based on your purpose of traveling to Canada.
What Are The Canada Visa Types?
Before embarking on a process for a Canadian visa, you have to know which one will best fit in for your purpose of going to Canada. Here are the different available visas in Canada.
- Express Entry Program visas
- Visitor visas.
- Work visas.
- Business Immigrant visas.
- Student visas.
- Permanent Residence visas.
Kindly pick the one that best fits your purpose, and learn about how to obtain the visa.
Temporary Canada Visas
The temporary Canada Visa only permits the user to stay in Canada for a short period. The duration for staying in Canada with a temporary visa is usually 6 months.
Furthermore, a temporary visa is of two types, single entry, and multiple entries. With the single entry, you will only be allowed to come to Canada, stay for 6 months, and return to your home country. Multiple entry users can come to Canada multiple times before their duration expires.
Here are the different types of visas, available under Temporary visas.
- Canada Tourist Visa: You can obtain this visa if your mission of going to Canada is for tourism purposes.
- Canada Super Visa: This type of visa is for those who want to visit their children in Canada.
- Canada Diplomatic Visa: This type of visa permits residents to enter Canada for official purposes only.
- Courtesy visa: This type of visa is issued to all those who do not qualify for a Canada Diplomatic visa, but needs to be considered due to their position or ranks in the society.
- Business Visa: Those visas are for those who are intending to travel to Canada for business purposes only.
- Visa To Give Birth In Canada: This visa is issued to all those who meet all the necessary criteria to have a temporary stay in Canada and gives birth in Canada. Giving birth to a baby in Canada makes the baby automatically a Canadian citizen.
- Intending organ Donors: This visa is given to all those who are traveling to Canada, to donate an organ, either for a citizen or permanent resident.
- Canada student visa: This visa is given to all those who have been offered admission by a University in Canada.
Permanent Resident Visa
This type of visa is issued to all those who have met the requirements to have a permanent stay in Canada. There are different types of permanent visas which include.
- Immigrant Investor Program: This type of visa is issued to immigrants who are ready to contribute to the development of the Canadian economy. Immigrants must have a net worth of CAD$800,000 and must be ready to invest a minimum of CAD$400,000 in the country.
- Start-up Visa Program: This program is for all those who are ready to individually contribute to the development of the canadian economy, they must have a network of CAD$300,000, and must have a fully functioning business in Canada.
- Self-employed person visa: This is for those who have skills in some special areas who can be beneficial to the canadian economy, the skills could be in business or education. Such a person must be able to demonstrate how he/she will utilize the skills.
- Family Sponsorship Program: This is for families and spouses who want to immigrate to Canada permanently.
Express entry visas
Express entry program is an electronic program, developed by the Canadian government, to allow people from all over the world to immigrate to Canada. People applying for Canadian visas via express entry must have specific skills.
The below are programs available under express entry.
- Provincial Nomination Programs (PNP)
- Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP)
- Canadian Experience Class
- Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP)
FSTP (Federal Skilled Trades Program)
This program is for people who have special skills in some occupations such as.
- Heavy-duty Equipment Mechanics
- Plumbers
- Machinists
- Crane Operators
- Electricians
- Carpenter
- Ironworkers
- Aircraft Mechanics etc
Federal Skilled workers program
This program is for those who have professions that are required in Canada. Before applying for this visa, you must check what type of visa that is required for this type of visa
Provincial Nominee Program
This type of visa is given to those who have low skills but can work and contribute to the development of Canada. This set of people will be placed in different provinces where the demand for their job is high.
Canadian Experience Class
This visa is for those who already have a permanent visa ( Student visa, temporary worker visa) and want to apply for a permanent visa.