The eTA is the cheapest, fastest authorization VisaMet covers — but “cheap and fast” only applies if you actually need an eTA and not a full visitor visa, and if you apply correctly the first time.
What an eTA actually is
An Electronic Travel Authorization is not a visa and not a permit. It’s an electronic record linked to your passport that an airline checks before letting you board a flight to Canada (IRCC — eTA). It exists specifically for travelers from visa-exempt countries who are flying in — it has no bearing on travelers who arrive by land, bus, train, or boat, including cruise ships, and it is not a substitute for a visitor visa if your passport isn’t visa-exempt in the first place.
Who needs one
You need an eTA if you hold a passport from a visa-exempt country (a list that includes the UK, most EU member states, Australia, Japan, and South Korea among others) and you’re flying into or transiting through a Canadian airport. US citizens are exempt from the eTA requirement entirely. Canadian dual citizens travel on a Canadian passport rather than an eTA. The authoritative, current eligible-country list lives on IRCC’s own site — check it directly rather than trusting a third-party summary, since eligibility lists are reviewed periodically.
If your passport isn’t on the visa-exempt list, an eTA won’t help you — you need a full Temporary Resident Visa (visitor visa) instead, a different and more document-intensive process covered in our Canada visitor visa guide.
The fee and what you need to apply
The eTA costs CAD 7 per application, paid online by credit or debit card (IRCC — eTA). To apply you need:
- A valid passport.
- A credit or debit card.
- An email address (approvals, and any request for more information, arrive by email).
- Answers to a short set of questions covering identity, travel history, and background.
The online form is quick — most applicants report around 10 minutes — but accuracy matters more than speed: inconsistent answers on background or travel-history questions are a common reason an application gets flagged for manual review instead of an instant approval.
How long it lasts
IRCC’s guidance doesn’t put a single blanket validity figure on the public eTA page, and the figure can depend on your passport’s own expiry — an eTA is tied to the passport you applied with and stops being valid if that passport expires or is replaced, even mid-trip. Treat the eTA as linked to the specific passport, not to you as a traveler, and re-apply if you get a new passport before your next trip.
If something goes wrong
Most eTA applications are approved automatically within minutes. If yours isn’t, IRCC may ask for additional documents or take longer to review your file manually — this isn’t the same as a refusal, and responding promptly to any request is the single best thing you can do. If an eTA is formally refused, the practical next step is usually to apply for a full Temporary Resident Visa instead, since the two routes serve the same underlying goal (entry authorization) through different levels of scrutiny.
Preparation checklist
- Confirm your passport’s nationality is on IRCC’s current visa-exempt list before assuming an eTA is the right route.
- Check whether you’re flying in — if you’re arriving by land or sea, you don’t need one at all.
- Apply online with a valid passport, a card for the CAD 7 fee, and accurate answers.
- Watch your email for any request for more information, and respond quickly.
- If refused, pivot to the full visitor visa process rather than reapplying for an eTA with the same facts.
This is general preparation guidance, not legal advice — eligibility lists and fees are set by IRCC and can change; confirm the current rules on canada.ca before booking travel. VisaMet is building AI-assisted guidance to help travelers quickly tell an eTA case apart from one that actually needs a full visitor visa; join the waitlist.