IRCC Gives A Clear Update About Who Can Come To Canada

13 Jun 2020

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship (IRCC) Canada published an update on 12 June 2020 providing more direction on who can come to Canada while travel limitations continue in place.

Canada has had travel limitations since 18 March 2020 but has been providing regular updates to keep international citizens informed about their authorization to enter Canada.

Exceptions have been published following the initiation of the travel limitations, and most newly, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister declared even more flexibility for immediate members of the family to enter Canada.

Travel for Non-optional Reasons

In the details published recently, I.R.C.C reminds international citizens they can only come to Canada for non-discretionary or non-optional reasons and it is the duty of international citizens to prove the reason for their journey.

Immediate members of the family of Canadian permanent residents or citizens will be considered to be traveling for non-optional or non-discretionary reasons if their trip to Canada is a minimum of 15 days long and they are either traveling with their family member or will rejoin with their family member.

IRCC also emphasizes to its officers of immigration that they should show flexibility when processing the immediate family members' applications, even if they are traveling to Canada for shorter than 15 days, as long as the journey is non-optional.

Who are the immediate family members?

The immediate members of the family of Canadian permanent residents or citizens are limited to:

• Spouses or common-law partners
• Parents or step-parents
• Dependent children
• Grandchildren
• Guardians or tutors

Immediate family members can come to Canada if they satisfy the below criteria

• Trip to Canada is for a minimum of 15 days long (however, note before that IRCC is giving flexibility for trips below 15 days)
• Immediate family members must self-quarantine for a tenure of 14 days after landing in Canada
• Immediate family members do not have COVID-19 or coronavirus symptoms
• The trip is non-discretionary and non-optional
• They are reaching to Canada to be with their immediate family members

Suggested Documents

IRCC suggests that immediate family members need to present the below documents:

• Documentation proving that their immediate family member is a Canadian permanent resident or citizen (e.g., Canadian passport, Canadian citizenship proof, Canadian PR card, etc).
• Documentation proving their relationship to the immediate family member (e.g., marriage certificate, birth certificate, confirmation of PR for the family class, etc).

Both paper and electronic copies of the above-listed documents are permissible by IRCC.

We request you to fill up the free evaluation form presented by Opulentus to take the initial step for your Visa and Immigration Process. We have 21 Plus years of experience in Overseas Career and Immigration Industry.