On 1st November, the Canadian Immigration Minister, John McCallum, made an announcement regarding Canada’s intention to lift the visa requirements for Bulgarian and Romanian Citizens. The new regulation of visa-free travel for Bulgarians and Romanians is applicable on all those individuals who hold a valid U.S visa, as well those who have Travelled To Canada in the past, or individuals who have traveled for business related purposes.
This new regulation is set to be implemented in May 2017. However, by the start of December 2017, Canada intends to partially extend visa-free travel for all Bulgarian & Romanian citizens, ultimately terminating the requirement for a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to visit Canada. Instead, they will now only need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) to be able to fly or Transit Through Canada.
This move has resulted from a controversial European Union free trade deal currently being settled with Canada, and aspires to abate the tension involving Bulgarian Citizens. Bulgarian and Romania will continue to give reluctant support to this trade deal, known as the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) if Canada fails to execute a visa-waiver entry system for Bulgarian and Romanian people.
Private discussions were held regarding lifting the visa regulation between the Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau and the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Boyoko Brissov. This discussion was later extended to recent EU-Canada Summit Joint Declaration negotiations. The Canadian officials promised to lift visa requirements in return for obtaining Bulgarian and Romanian approval in favor of the CETA agreement. In reference to this, the government press stated, “[the] Canadian government will make efforts that all other Bulgarians can travel without visas by the end of 2017.”
However, the visa-free travel will only be acquired through certain necessary phases. The first phase will eliminate all those individuals who have previously obtained a TRV over the past decade from having to re-apply to enter Canada. Contrarily, they will now be required to acquire an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), which has become Canada’s latest method of pre-screening foreign travelers from visa-exempt countries.
Read Also: Briefing Held To Discuss The EB-5 Investment Program
Canada’s decision in regards to Bulgarian and Romanian citizens aims to “further facilitate the strong cultural, educational, family and business relations that exist between Canada and Europe.” as described by the EU-Canada Summit Joint Declaration.
Despite the needs of Bulgarian and Romanian citizens to see a faster process for obtaining visa-free travel, the Canadian Government has made it that this will be a Step-By-Step Process, commencing with only a limited number of individuals meeting the eligibility criteria previously outlined.
No comments:
Post a Comment