Canada Lists 1 Country Whose Citizens Can Enter With an ePassport Instead of Visa

• The Canadian government confirmed that Romanian citizens can travel to Canada by air without a traditional visa under specific conditions
• The visa exemption applies only to holders of electronic biometric passports issued by Romanian authorities, excluding temporary documents
• Romanians who secured an Electronic Travel Authorisation before December 1, 2017 may also qualify under a legacy provision

Romanian citizens gained a notable travel advantage after Canada confirmed they may enter the country by air without a conventional visa, as long as they carry a valid electronic biometric passport.

The announcement, published through official Canadian immigration channels, clarifies that only machine-readable e-passports containing contactless integrated circuit chips qualify for the exemption.

Holders of Romanian temporary or emergency passports are not covered by the waiver.

Why temporary passports are excluded

Ottawa was direct about its reasoning for drawing the line at biometric documents. Canadian authorities explained that the process for issuing temporary

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Romanian passports moves faster precisely because it is designed for urgent situations, and does not gather the same depth of personal information as the standard electronic passport application, particularly biometric data.

"The Romanian temporary passport issuance process is faster, as it is intended for emergency and special circumstances, and does not involve the collection of the same level of information as the issuance process for the electronic version (e.g. biometric information). Therefore, Canada is restricting its visa exemption to Romanian citizens who hold electronic passports," the Canadian government stated.

Because emergency documents bypass the comprehensive checks that Canadian border agencies rely on, travellers carrying them must still apply for a visa before boarding a flight to Canada.

Legacy eTA provision for earlier travellers

There is, however, an exception for a specific group of Romanian travellers. Those who obtained an Electronic Travel Authorisation before December 1, 2017 retain the right to enter Canada by air under the visa exemption, even if their current travel documents would not ordinarily qualify under the updated rules.

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For all other Romanian nationals who neither hold a qualifying e-passport nor possess one of these pre-deadline authorisations, a standard temporary resident visa remains a compulsory requirement before any flight to Canada can be boarded.

The policy reflects Canada's broader approach to balancing openness with border security, tying visa-free access to the availability of verifiable biometric data rather than citizenship alone.

Canada announces major PR points change

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported that Ontario had updated its immigrant nominee scoring system on October 5, 2026, adding a new top earnings bracket.

Candidates earning at least $80,000 annually received 10 points under the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream.

The change formed part of a broader overhaul of how Ontario selected foreign nationals for provincial immigration.

Source: YEN.com.gh