The Canadian Refugee System

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Visit Canada

Before coming to Canada
Who does not need visa?
Traveling with a Group in the USA

Every year more than 37 million people visit Canada. Canada welcomes these visitors as tourists, students or temporary workers. As a visitor, you will enjoy the many opportunities Canada has to offer.

Before coming to Canada

To visit Canada you:

• Must be healthy. You might need a doctor's examination

• Must respect Canadian laws

• Will need a valid passport, proof of who you are or other travel documents

Canada does not pay for hospital or medical services for visitors. Make sure you have health insurance to pay your medical costs before you leave for Canada.
Contact us for information on what you will need before coming to Canada.

When you arrive, an officer from Citizenship and Immigration Canada will ask you a few short questions when you arrive. To make this go quickly, keep your passport with you and not in your luggage.
The officer will stamp your passport to tell you how long you may stay in Canada. Feel free to ask questions if you are unsure about anything.

After you arrive, you may want to change the conditions of your visit. This is possible in special cases. You must do this before your visa runs out. Apply to extend your stay or visit three weeks before your visa expires.

Who does not need visa?
Many people do not require a visa to visit Canada. These include: 

• Citizens of Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Botswana, Brunei, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Israel (National Passport holders only), Italy, Japan, 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 (Green 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 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;
• Persons holding passports or travel documents issued by the Holy See.

Traveling with a Group in the USA
Citizens of most countries traveling to Canada in groups need to apply for and obtain individual visas. Tour groups of persons who are not American citizens and who are traveling in the USA and plan to visit Canada may apply to a Canadian visa office in the USA for a Collective certificate. This certificate is issued to a designated group of people and is only issued in the United States of America to those persons who require a visitor visa.

Groups must arrive together and remain together all the time until all immigration and customs formalities are completed. Group members are also expected to leave Canada together