Visas are an important document that most international tourists will need to have before traveling outside of their home country. While some countries do not require visas, others may ask for more than just a short stay!
A visa is required when you plan to travel out of the country for longer than two weeks. More often than not, this three-week minimum length of visit has little to do with your destination and everything to do with how much money you’ll be spending abroad.
Some wealthier travelers can pay to remain in a hotel or cruise ship where they live and eat meals paid for by the staff, but most people cannot. They must find affordable lodging and food far away from major tourist attractions or facilities.
Finding such accommodation and eating away fro tourism centers can cost quite a bit which makes it difficult if not impossible to maintain close ties with family back home while overseas. This could also pose health risks due to unsafe street foods or lack of adequate hygiene at local restaurants.
Fortunately, there are ways to avoid needing a visa beyond staying within the two week limit mentioned above. These strategies include making and keeping low budget plans, finding cheap hotels through online sources, and being persistent in your efforts. If none of these work, applying for a visa is your next best option. But only after all other options have been tried.
The average time it takes for your documents to be reviewed and processed by VFS is around 10 days. This includes both submitting your application, waiting for a decision, and receiving your passport or travel document.
Some cases can take longer than that though!
It’s very important to understand that there are several different stages to processing a Canadian visa. After you have completed all of these steps, we will update our status page with confirmation that your documentation has been received and an expected arrival date at which you should receive your passport / travel document.
Even if you have an invitation or are sponsored, there’s still one more thing that can prevent you from entering Canada — a visa.
A visa is proof that you belong to a country and are allowed to be there. This is important because most countries require at least this before they issue a passport to someone. So, even though you’re invited, we cannot guarantee your entry into Canada until we confirm you have a visa!
Fortunately, it’s not hard to get a Canadian tourist visa. In fact, it’s pretty easy! All you have to do is visit http://www.canadavisa.gov/ and choose either “Visit Canada” or “Work in Canada.” You will then be asked some basic questions about yourself and your trip, as well as whether you have a job waiting for you in Canada. After answering all of these, you will be able to proceed with creating an account online and filling out the application form. (Make sure to check out our article: how to apply for a CANADIAN PASSPORT)
If you want to stay longer than just a week, then you will also need to arrange residence status. Unfortunately, we cannot help you with that.
Even though your passport has already been stamped, you do not need to wait around for additional visas at the Canadian Embassy or Consulate here in Nigeria. You can find out where to apply for a visa directly from Immigration Canada’s website.
You will then have to pay a processing fee for applying with them. This usually ranges between $60 – 100 per application depending on how many documents you include in your packet.
There is an extra cost involved in doing this as well. If your visa is rejected, you will be notified of that fact via email by Immigration Canada. Therefore it is important to make sure all your documents are up-to-date and proof of enough money to return home is available.
An additional way to enter Canada is by having your passport endorsed as a non-immigrant visa at an international airport. This is called VISA ON ARRIVAL (VOA).
With this service, you will need to have your passport scanned for entry into Canada within the last six months. You also must have proof of sufficient funds to stay in Canada for your length of stay, along with confirmation that you have appropriate health coverage while here.
This can be through a job or housekeeping position, for example. Many employers offer employee medical insurance as part of their employment package, so look out for such statements!
You should also make sure you understand what kind of Health Coverage you have before leaving home. Some countries may not recognize your policy if it does not contain Canadian universal healthcare services. Check out our article about Canadian Medical Insurance for more information.
As mentioned before, there are many ways to apply for a Canadian visa. Some of these include applying directly at one of Canafin’s over 75 embassy-like visa agents or through an online visa provider.
The most common way is to go to one of Canafins’ more than 175 official visa processing facilities across Canada. These visa agencies get paid by Canafins to handle your visa applications on their behalf so they have access to all the same information you do, plus they receive full payment for doing so.
This article will talk about some things that can throw a monkey wrench into the process including how long it takes to process visas at a visa agency and why this matters. But first, let us discuss what makes up a visa agent.
What Makes Up A Visa Agent In Canada
A visa agent in Canada must be licensed to work as such. They are also required to meet certain criteria which includes having enough money to run the business properly, being able to deal with clients effectively and staying within budgeted timeframes.
These agents usually work under contract with Canafins so once again they need to be authorized to use Canafins’ resources and software. This means they have to agree to follow rules set out for them by Canafins and its headquarters back home.
Agents can choose whether to accept electronic (online) visa applications or not but either kind of visa requires the exact same documents and paperwork.
If you have received notification that your application has been accepted, then it is time to start preparing for travel! Before you can leave for Canada, you will need to confirm if you already have Canadian residency or citizenship (this is not always checked during the initial entry process).
If you do have current residence status in Canada, great! You are almost set – you just need to make sure all of your documents are ready and waiting before arriving at the airport.
Otherwise, there is something you can do! Visit our page here: CanITravel.ca’s Tips For Visiting Canadians To ensure everything is done correctly for your visit, we've put together some tips to help you through the process.
To be able to stay in Canada as a tourist for longer than six months, you will need to have enough money to support yourself while here. Obviously, spending every day shopping is not a way to conserve funds.
Luckily, there are many ways to make money quickly in Toronto. You can work in any profession (no matter how poorly paid it may seem at first), sell products or services, take freelance jobs, start your own business, and so on.
There are even websites that offer to do all this for you! All you need to know about these opportunities is how to create them and what tools you should use to succeed. This article will talk more about the latter.
We’ll also look at some easy ways to earn some extra cash online in Canada. These include writing reviews, doing market research, taking surveys and offering tips and tricks via social media.
Being able to prove your income is one of the most important things you will need to do when paying for your Canadian visa. You will have to provide proof that you are capable of supporting yourself and your family while you’re away.
A friend or colleague who works at an organization that does business with Canadians may be willing to vouch for you, or you could use their employment documents as proof.
You should also make sure to bring pictures of yourself during the time of application to show where you would be staying and what kind of job you have.
We recommend using free online tools to check your credit score and verify your identity before applying for the visa. This way, you won’t have to waste money on expensive applications that turn out to be invalid.
