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No More Written Authorization to Visit Family Members

Posted on 19/01/2022

IRCC is no longer issuing written travel authorizations to travel to Canada to unite with immediate or extended family members which we blogged about here. To unite with a family member, you have to qualify as what is called a Fully Vaccinated Traveller.

While there are some exemptions for BC residents and essential workers in British Columbia due to the flooding, in general travel to Canada has been restricted to fully vaccinated travellers with most exemptions no longer available.

As well, you can no longer gain an exemption from travel restrictions to visit a family member who is temporarily in Canada (as an international student, temporary worker, or visitor). Your family member must be a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, or a registered Indian in Canada, and you must be fully vaccinated.

To qualify as a Fully Vaccinated Traveller you must:

  • Have received 2 doses – the latest dose at least 15 days before you travel – of the following vaccines:
    • AstraZeneca
    • Bharat Biotech
    • Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Only 1 dose necessary)
    • Moderna
    • Pfizer/BioNtech
    • Sinopharm
    • Sinovac
    • Please note: You can receive a mix of the above listed vaccines
  • Have a certified proof in English or French of your vaccination
    • If translated your proof of vaccination must have the stamp or seal of a professional translation association.
  • Have an ArriveCAN app with your ArriveCAN account set up and the following information uploaded to the app before you travel:
    • A pre-entry test of the following types (usually involves swabs of nose or saliva samples):
      • PCR; NAT; NAAT; RT-LAMP
      • DO NOT USE RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS!
    • Other acceptable pre-entry tests include:
      • RT-PCR; qPCR; ddPCR; TMA; RNA; CRISPR; NGS; WGS; LamPORE
    • You must have paper or electronic proof of your negative pre-entry molecular test result that was taken 15 days to 180 days before your date of travel, and must include:
      • Name and date of birth
      • Name and address of facility (lab, clinic, etc.) where the test was taken
      • Date test taken
      • Type of test taken
      • Test result
    • You can also save your proof of vaccination and travel documents in your ArriveCAN account. You can use your phone (or digital camera) to take a picture of your proof of vaccination and upload it to ArriveCAN.
    • Use the Traveller Profile in ArriveCAN to upload your proof of vaccination and travel documents. Select “Travellers” and if necessary “+ add Travellers” to set up the traveller profile of everyone who will be travelling to Canada. Use “Add file/photo” to upload your saved electronic copies of your proof of vaccination and travel documents.
  • Submit your travel information and quarantine plan to ArriveCAN 72 hours before you travel to Canada in order to get your ArriveCAN Receipt which you’ll need to board your flight and enter Canada.
    • Keep paper or electronic copies of your proof of vaccination for at least 14 days from the day you arrive in Canada.

To unite with an immediate family member there are 2 types of required supporting documents:

  • Ones that show proof of your immediate family member’s status in Canada such as:
    • A Canadian passport
    • A Canadian citizenship certificate or card
    • A provincial or territorial birth certificate
    • A PR Card or PR Travel Document
    • A certificate of Indian Status or Temporary confirmation of registration document (TCRD).
  • Ones that show proof of your relationship to the immediate family member such as:
    • Marriage certificate
    • Proof of common-law status (documents showing shared address for example)
    • COPR for family class OR under a one-year window of opportunity (OYW)
    • Correspondence relating to Spousal Sponsorship application
    • Documents showing a shared home address
  • You need to have one of each type of supporting document.

To unite with an extended family member:

If you are 18 years or older, you must be fully vaccinated as described above.

If you are under 18, you have to complete one of the following two statutory declaration forms:

  • IMM 0006e – 2020-10-9 Statutory Declaration for the purposes of entry into Canada of extended family members COVID-19 Emergency Orders in Council under the Quarantine Act if the family member you are reuniting with is an adult.
    • The adult extended family member directly swears in front of an official.
    • To download this form, go here and scroll down until you see the following and then right click and choose Save link as … to save to your hard drive:

 

  • IMM 0016e Statutory Declaration for the Parent of a Minor for the purposes of entry into Canada for extended family members COVID-19 Emergency Orders in Council under the Quarantine Act if the family member you are reuniting with is a minor.
    • The parents of the minor who is an extended family member in Canada have to swear in this case.
    • To save the form to your computer, go to the same page and right-click as shown:

 

In both cases, just open the form directly from your pc’s hard drive (for example, by opening Windows Explorer).

Remember that these forms must be sworn to in the presence of an official authorized in Canada for the taking of oaths such as:

  • Commissioner of Oaths
  • Justice of the Peace
  • Notary Public
  • Lawyer
  • Consular official (if the Canadian extended family member is temporarily outside of Canada)
  • You can also get some Commissioners of Oaths, Notary Publics, or Lawyers, to do an online swearing ceremony if the extended family member is currently outside of Canada.

Once your extended family member has completed the Statutory Declaration they must send a copy of it to you which you must bring with you along with your valid travel document (visa or eTA). Remember, however, the final decision on your admissibility to visit Canada in order to reunite with an extended or immediate family member will be made by the immigration officials at your port of entry.

As well, you must have a quarantine plan prepared and uploaded to your ArriveCAN app before you travel to Canada.

Posted in News Tips and tagged Visiting family members in Canada

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