Electronic Travel Authorization in USA and Canada

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Amid security concerns majorly relating to terrorism, the Canadian government formulated a project known as border security plan in 2011 to curb the menace. This development leads to the engineering of an effective method known as electronic travel authorization. The idea was first conceptualized and executed by the United States of America naming it Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA).

In 2015 August the Canadian government fully enacted the Electronic Travel authorization program it a requirement before visiting the country either on business, tourism through air or sea. In both countries the document allows you to move freely in the country for a specified period. The application for visa USA and visa Canada can be completed online before the designated day of travel. The process is pretty straightforward, below is the overview of what applying for e-visa USA and Canada visa in both USA and Canada entail

Online application of visa

In the event, one seeks to travel to either the USA or Canada using the Canada ETA Travel, he/she has to first log into the device USA andevisa Canada websites to perform the application process. To complete the process one thing is paramount, and that’s a passport. The details required for the visa include passport number, date of issue and expiry, year of birth, a city of birth. Apart from that one is also necessary to state his employment status, marital status, and purpose of visit. Generally, personal information is of great interest.

This part is compassionate, and one should not avail wrong or crude details. Such attempts lead to automatic disqualification. In the case of the USA, one is qualified for application is if only he/she has a valid passport from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program. Dual citizenship holders in Canada is an exemption from applying for evisa when entering the country. Some reasons are well stipulated and are used to determine whether one has an exception from using evisa document as a rite of passage into Canada. Immediately after filling the required form it’s submitted for processing. In the process of application, one must have a credit or debit card to pay for the service and also a valid email address for communication purpose once validation is over.

Validation period

In the event, an interested party submits the application he/she has to wait for some time before the request is approved. For instance, for the case of USA when one applies for evisa, the results come after 72 hours or less. The validation results depend solely depends on the track record of the individual applying for the evisa. A criminal record is a minus since and is intolerable. The individuals applying for evisa should have an ethical code of conduct. It is advisable to the evisa application early since some applications take long for review and a verdict on then paused. Regarding time made to be approved evisa is more efficient than the traditional visa application that would take months before one gets feedback of his/her fate. Upon approval, the journey can be made to your desired country. The individual will be required to produce the document when encountered with any difficulties. Temporally accommodation will be granted to the individual and a permit issued depending on the reason as to why he/she has traveled to the country. It could be for tour or visiting, education, work or any other issue.  

Exemptions

In the case of Canada, several considerations need to be made for one to be exempted from obtaining an ETA. The following exemption from obtaining Canadian evisa- members of the royal family household including the king, queen, and the extended royal family. Others include

  •    Canadian visa holders
  •    Diplomatic acceptance holders
  •    Flight crew members
  •    Members of the armed forces from a particular designated state
  •    Dual citizens and permanent residents of Canada
  •     USA citizens and nationals
  •    Citizens of France who reside in Saint Pierre and Miquelon and access Canada directly from this territory
  •    Inspection crew or cabin safety crew

Immediately after arriving in Canada the respective travel documents are scrutinized then stamped by the officials. The number of days one is permitted to stay in the country is a maximum total of 60 days, but one can apply for an extension 30 day before the expiry of the first e-visa document. Individuals making the trip to Canada must be in good health and also be able to convince immigration officials that they can take care of themselves during their stay.

Visa Waiver Program

A program initiated by the United States government. The arrangement allows citizens of individual countries to travel to the States for business, tourism or when in transit for up to 90 days. Counties certified to take part in this ordeal are regarded as highly developed states who meet the following conditions

  •    Safety and security related issue
  •    Travel document should uphold integrity meaning should not be faulty
  •    Human rights and humanitarian concerns
  •    Socio-economic conditions
  •    Immigration concerns
  •    Border management regarding systems put in place

The final situation is that anyone one willing to apply for the VWP must be a genuine citizen of the counties permitted by the USA secretary of homeland security. In total 38 counties are allowed to enter the United States of America under the VWP program. The countries include Australia, Netherlands, Chile, Lithuania, Belgium, Finland, Malta, Spain, Slovenia, Luxembourg and many others. However, visa waiver program in-permit able to individuals who had earlier traveled to Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somali, Sudan, Syria and Yemen after the year 2011 in November. One’s VWP can be terminated if one turns out to be a safety liability. Safety here takes into account the welfare of United States citizens, health and security of the as a whole country. Another factor is the history of previous violation of VWP program. A perfect case was that of Argentina in 2002.   In conclusion, the e-visa and Eta-Canada have been of great impact to many travelers around the countries as it is quick and efficient.

 

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