Canada today announced that travel to Canada will be restricted to certain foreign nationals, effective March 18, 2020.
Here are some of the salient details of the restrictions to be implemented, and the exceptions thereto:
- Canadian borders will to be closed to all Foreign nationals (students, workers, visitors) who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
- immediate family members of citizens or permanent resident will be permitted entry.
- Any passenger with COVID-19 symptoms; they will be barred from boarding a flight, regardless of status/nationality. Travelers arriving from international locations must self-isolate for 14 days.
- International flights will be permitted to land only at the international airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver (domestic flights and flights from U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon will not be impacted)
- Exceptions to the travel ban will be in place for:
- U.S. citizens
- Diplomats
- Crew (truck drivers, air crew, trains, professions requiring cross-border travel, other necessary essential service workers to be considered)
We do note that as of now, there was no specific announcement that any immigration processing would be halted; there is a difference between the legal processes – which can continue – and the ability to travel. (Hopefully, the travel ban will be lifted in the near future, and the legal right to travel to Canada granted by any visa would be useful again.) That being said, and in accordance with prior information we have provided, processing has slowed, and updates to issues affecting processing can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/coronavirus-special-measures.html.
The situation is certainly fluid, and we will continue to seek to provide our followers with relevant information as updates occur.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.