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Canadian Visitor Visa's permissions and limitations - an overview

Canadian Visitor Visa's permissions and limitations
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Canadian Visitor Visa’s permissions and limitations – an overview

Canadian Visitor Visa’s permissions and limitations would be highly beneficial for aspiring candidates.

To enter Canada to work or study, anyone who is neither a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident must apply for and receive a temporary residence visa. Unless you are from a nation exempt from visa requirements, you must apply for a tourist visa to travel to Canada.

A Visitor Visa has more restrictions than a work or study permit, provided only for carrying out or beginning certain activities in Canada. However, that doesn’t imply that there are no limitations on what you can and cannot do after you arrive here.

Canadian Visitor Visa’s permissions and limitations – what can one do?

Arrive in Canada and remain there

First and foremost, a tourist visa enables you to travel to Canada. Your visitor visa grants you temporary legal status to live or travel anywhere in Canada once you are there. However, keep in mind that this is only a temporary situation. Visas for visitors may be granted for up to six months. The official issuing your visa will specify how long it will be valid in advance. Your visa will expire after the validity period is over, and you can no longer legally enter Canada as a visitor.

Get ready for the Canadian transit

You can still require a Canadian visitor visa even if Canada is not your final destination, but you must pass through it to get to your destination.

Canadian Visitor Visa’s permissions- look for Employment in Canada

Visitors are not explicitly barred from looking for work while they are in Canada, but visitor visas are not intended to be used as a means of doing so. In fact, finding a job domestically rather than abroad may be more successful because Canadian employers frequently prefer to meet potential hires in person. However, if you decide to look for employment while you have a visiting visa, bear the following in mind:

  • Never lie or withhold your travel motivation from an immigration official.
  • Regardless of your job hunt outcome, you must clearly demonstrate your intention to return to your home country when your guest visa expires.
  • You’ll have to demonstrate that you don’t plan to work in Canada without a legal work permit.

Enroll in a brief course in Canada

Typically, in order to be able to study in Canada, you must obtain study permission. However, if you match the following requirements, there are a few uncommon exclusions that let you study in Canada on a visiting visa:

  • The school you’re looking to pursue the course must not be a DLI.
  • The program or course’s duration must be lesser than six months.
  • The course isn’t part of a lengthier program.
  • The completion of the course will occur before your Visitor Visa’s expiry.

Submit a request to stay longer in Canada

Visas for visitors may be granted for up to six months. But you can request an extension if you want to stay longer than your visa’s initial validity period. The immigration officer assessing your case will decide whether to grant the extension and how long it will last.

Perform business-related tasks

Even though you typically require a work permit to work in Canada, you can conduct some commercial operations there as long as you don’t immediately enter the labor market. You can, for instance:

  • Purchase products or services from Canadian companies for a foreign company.
  • Visit a company website.
  • Upon invitation from a Canadian company, receive training in product use, sales, or other business-related activities.
  • Meet and converse with individuals to begin and complete a business transaction.

Request a work permit

Typically, tourists to Canada are not permitted to apply for a work permit. The ability to apply for a work permit while in Canada on a visiting visa is provided by a temporary measure that is in effect until the end of February 2025 and allows travelers in the country to have a legitimate job offer.

People who wanted to work in Canada used to require to apply for their initial work permit before they arrived. However, this temporary policy change eliminates that requirement. If they had visitor status when they received a work permit, they would have to leave the country to obtain their work permit. This policy eliminates the need to leave Canada.

Canadian Visitor Visa’s permissions and limitations – what they can’t do?

Living in Canada permanently

You can enter Canada with a visitor visa, granting you temporary legal residency there. You only keep that status, though, for the duration of the validity of your visa. On an expired visitor visa, you are not permitted to remain in Canada.

Canadian employment

To work in Canada, you must possess a valid work permit. You are not permitted to work in a nation with a visitor’s visa. Therefore, while you are a tourist, you must avoid engaging in any commercial activity, allowing you to enter the Canadian labor market directly.

Canadian studies

You cannot pursue studies in Canada if you have a guest visa, except for the circumstances mentioned above. You require a study permit to lawfully study in Canada for any other events.

Request a study permit

You cannot submit an application for a study permit from within Canada based on your tourist status. After you return home, you must start the application procedure for a student visa. Suppose a tourist has a family member who is in possession of a current study or work permit for Canada. In that case, an exception to this rule permits the visitor to submit an application from within Canada.