On February 29, 2024, the Canadian authorities tightened the rules Mexican travellers must comply with for applying for an eTA. Mexicans must meet additional requirements to qualify for an eTA Canada, and eTAs granted to Mexicans before February 29, 2024 will be cancelled.
New eTA requirements
Since late February, travellers with Mexican nationality must meet a number of additional conditions to be eligible for the eTA. Mexican citizens must not only meet the regular eTA requirements, but also meet the following criteria to travel to Canada with an eTA. They must:
- arrive in Canada by plane;
- travel to Canada for a period of up to 6 months;
- either have held a Canadian visitor visa in the past 10 years;
- or possess a U.S. non-immigrant visa at the time of the eTA application.
Mexican travellers arriving in Canada by car, bus, train, or boat can no longer use the eTA since the introduction of the new rules. Also, Mexicans who have not had a Canadian visitor visa in the past 10 years and currently do not have a valid U.S. non-immigrant visa will, according to the new guidelines, need to apply for a visa instead of an eTA for their trip to Canada. The costs of the eTA are significantly lower than those of the visa. Additionally, biometric data may be required for a visa application. The new rules make it more expensive and complicated for many Mexicans to visit Canada.
Previously granted eTAs revoked
The new rules came into effect on February 29, 2024, but also affect Mexicans who had already applied for an eTA before this date. Mexican travellers who had received their eTA Canada before February 29, 2024, are also not allowed to use it any more. All eTAs issued to Mexican citizens before this date have been retroactively cancelled. These travellers must reapply for an eTA under the new conditions or apply for a Canadian visitor visa if they do not meet all the additional criteria.
An exception applies to Mexican travellers already in Canada. They are allowed to stay in the country for the period allowed by their original travel authorization. However, if they leave Canada, they must meet the new rules to re-enter the country. This means they must apply for a new eTA or visitor visa at that time. Additionally, an exception applies to Mexicans holding a valid work permit or study permit. These individuals can still travel to Canada even if the eTA associated with their work or study permit was issued before February 29, 2024.
Background of the decision
The tightening of the eTA requirements for Mexicans is partly a result of the large number of asylum applications from Mexican citizens. Since the visa requirement for Mexicans was abolished in 2016, the number of asylum applications from Mexicans in Canada has sharply increased. In 2023, the number of asylum applications reached a peak with over 25,000 applications. Of all asylum applications in Canada in 2023, 18 percent were filed by Mexican citizens. Only 2,894 of these applications were approved. As of December 31, 2023, there were still 28,165 asylum applications from Mexicans pending with the Canadian immigration authorities. It appears that the Canadian authorities cannot keep up with the large number of asylum applications from Mexicans.
One of the goals of tightening the visa requirements for Mexican citizens is to relieve the immigration service. Earlier this year, the Canadian Ministers of Public Safety and Immigration considered reintroducing the visa requirement for Mexican citizens. Although the requirement was not reintroduced, the rules for applying for an eTA for Mexican travellers were tightened.
eTA conditions for Europeans unchanged
The tightened rules for applying for an eTA apply only to travellers with Mexican nationality. Travellers from the Netherlands and Belgium still qualify for the eTA and do not need to consider the new conditions when applying for travel authorization. If they meet the regular requirements, they can still easily apply for the eTA for Canada online.