New Canadian Visa Requirements

Beginning on July 14, 2009, Czech and Mexican nationals require a passport visa to travel to Canada, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Minister Jason Kenney announced For the first 48 hours, such citizens may apply for entry on arrival in Canada. After 11:59 p.m. EDT July 15, 2009, a visa will be required. In the cases of both countries, citizens had previously been able to seek admission to Canada at a port of entry without first obtaining a visa.

Continuing to mount a strong defensive about imposing visa restrictions on visitors from the Czech Republic and Mexico, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the reality is the system is being abused. Kenney says Ottawa doesn't enjoy pulling the visa exemption but its based on the number of asylum claimants - which are high from both countries.

Mexico's government on Thursday said it would require visas of Canadian diplomats in retaliation for the Harper government's announcement earlier this week that Mexican visitors to Canada will immediately need visas to enter the country. Mexican foreign secretary Patricia Espinosa made the announcement after meeting Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon.
Espinosa said Mexico would not require visas of Canadian tourists.

Canadian Immigration Officials Consider Czech Visa Reinstatement

Citizenship and Immigration Canada recently removed the passport visa requirement for Czech nationals visiting Canada. This meant that such individuals became eligible to seek admission at a Canadian port of entry without first seeking a passport visa at a Canadian visa office. This expedited the ability of tourists and business persons to travel to Canada.

A recent wave of refugee claimants from the Czech Republic, number approximately 100 in the past few months, has caused Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to reconsider this move, however. The claimants, mainly of the Roma ethnicity, are generally considered by Human Rights agencies to be discriminated against by the Czech population. In 1997, as similar wave of refugee claims derived from the Czech Roma, which at that time caused a 10 year reinstatement of the passport visa requirement.

Canadian Visitor Visa Exemptions

Recent changes to Canada's Immigration and Refugee Protection Act are now permitting visitor visa exemption to citizens of Poland and Lithuania. To be eligible, such an individual must hold a machine readable passport that contains a contactless integrated circuit chip and that is issued by one of the respective countries.

Others exemptions presently include:

• citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Republic of Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Republic of Korea, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, San Marino, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Spain, Swaziland, Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, United States, and Western Samoa;
• persons lawfully admitted to the United States for permanent residence who are in possession of their alien registration card or can provide other evidence of permanent residence;
• British citizens and British Overseas Citizens who are re-admissible to the United Kingdom;
• citizens of British dependent territories who derive their citizenship through birth, descent, registration or naturalization in one of the British dependent territories of Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Pitcairn, St. Helena or the Turks and Caicos Islands;
• persons holding a British National (Overseas) Passport issued by the Government of the United Kingdom to persons born, naturalized or registered in Hong Kong;
• persons holding a valid and subsisting Special Administrative Region passport issued by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China; and
• persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See.