Canada to allow visa-free travel for Romanians, Bulgarians from December 2017

  John McCallum, Canadian Minister of Immigration, announced on 31 October that their government would waive visa requirements for the citizens of Romania and Bulgaria from 1 December 2017. It is said to be an important indicator of this North American country’s government’s relationship with both the southeastern European countries and in general with the European Union. Before the visa exemption is fully in place, Canada is intending to partially waive visas for eligible citizens of both these countries arriving on its shores from 1 May 2017. The citizens of Romania and Bulgaria who were Canadian temporary resident visa holders in the past 10 years or those holding a US non-immigrant visa would not need a temporary resident visa and would be eligible to travel to or transit via Canada with just an eTA (Electronic Travel Authorization). After the visa is lifted, Canada can exercise its right to impose again a visa requirement on Bulgaria or Romania if irregular migration is seen to be increasing considerably from either of the nations. Canada is coordinating with Romania and Bulgaria to set the conditions for a sustainable visa waiver, for which efforts have been stepped up in recent months. It is being expected that visa-free travel, as in the case of CETA (Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), would present more opportunities to improve further trade and travel ties between the countries involved. McCallum said that both Romania and Bulgaria have collaborated with them and Canada would continue to partner on the switch to visa-free travel. By eliminating the visa requirements for Romania and Bulgaria, Canada would, thus, be providing visa-free travel for all EU member states citizens. If you are looking to travel to Canada, contact Y-Axis to get proper advice and assistance to file for a visa from one of its 19 offices located in eight Indian cities.