If you sent a visitor visa application before September 7, you may have to apply again.

Certain travellers who submitted their visitor visa application before September 7 are being asked to reapply.

Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) recently updated instructions on its webpage. The department is asking people who still want to travel to Canada to send in a new application through the IRCC portal. Specifically, if you are waiting for a decision and need to travel to Canada for one of the following reasons:

• to reunite with family members in Canada, including permanent and temporary residents;
• to visit on business;
• for compassionate reasons such as attending a funeral, being present during the final moments of a loved one’s life, and providing care to a critically ill person;
• to join a vessel as a marine crew member;
• to assume a position as a diplomat, or to travel as an accompanying immediate family member; and
• to handle the affairs of a victim of Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752.

IRCC asks you to include up-to-date information and your previous application number, if possible.

“By submitting a new application, your previous visitor visa application will be withdrawn,” the IRCC website says, “There is no guarantee of a refund, and you won’t receive a letter to confirm that your application has been withdrawn.”

If you no longer wish to travel to Canada you can request to withdraw your application via the web form. Again, there is no guarantee that IRCC will provide a refund.

The government website says the new measure were created “to reflect the easing of border measures effective September 7, 2021.”

About visitor visas to Canada

If you want to come to Canada temporarily you will need a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) unless you are a citizen of a visa-exempt country. This includes tourists, temporary foreign workers, and international students.

TRVs are issued by Canadian Immigration Visa Offices outside Canada. They show that the holder has satisfied the requirements for admission to Canada as a visitor. Travellers may not be admissible for a visitor visa if they have criminality or medical issues. Citizens of certain countries may also need to provide biometric information. Some visa applicants may need to undergo a medical exam if they intend to remain in Canada and have recently visited certain countries, or those who intend to work in certain occupations.

Also, visitors will need to prove that they can support them selves during their intended temporary stay.

TRVs generally allow travellers to stay in Canada for six months at a time, and can be used for multiple entries. Temporary foreign workers and international students are admitted for varying periods of time, as determined on a case-by-case basis. You may be able to apply for extensions from within Canada.

Possession of a valid TRV does not necessarily mean that the border officer will admit the traveller into Canada. At the Port of Entry, all visitors must demonstrate that the purpose of their visit to Canada is of a temporary nature. Officials will deny admission to all persons who, in their opinion, do not intend to leave Canada at the expiry of their visitor status.