Since February 2019, the federal immigration ministry of Canada, is able to track the movements of visitors who are entering and leaving the Maple leaf nation since February of 2019. This is done as the duration of stay of these foreign nations is significant to applications for work permits, study permits, visitor visas, permanent residence status, and Canadian citizenship.
Through the Entry/Exit Program, the immigration authorities of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have now been able to get access to traveler information from Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA). When many of the travelers who cross the US border from Canada, this information is provided to CBSA in the format of an “exit report.”
According to the CBSA webpage now IRCC can get all the information about a traveler for the administration and enforcement of immigration and citizenship programs.
Basic information of an applicant who either comes via Canada PR Visa or as a traveler:
• Full name
• Date of birth
• Nationality or citizenship
• Sex
• Document Information of your travel that should include type, number as well as issuing country.
There is information that Entry/Exit Program is expected to extend to air travel during June 2020.
Why was this Entry/Exit Program introduced?
According to the web page released by the Canadian government, the IRCC will have access to all the basic information of the traveler. This is collected in order to verify the residency requirements like those that are mentioned in the applications for Canadian citizenship as well as permanent resident Canada.
The purpose of compiling of this information to denote whether these overseas visitors have overstayed their designated period of stay in Canada. Also, this information will facilitate the investigations conducted by the IRCC to determine the entitlement of a visitor to the travel document of Canada. This will also assist during investigations of a possible fraud in relation to Canadian immigration, citizenship, passport and travel document programs.
Also, now the IRCC with this additional information the IRCC will be able to find out whether the sponsors and partners really reside in Canada, when they apply for inland family class programs. Along with this, the IRCC will also require this information to verify whether or not a person claiming to be a refugee is carrying their necessary travel documents with them, when they come to Canada.
The information regarding the entry and exit of the traveler will be used for all kinds of application across all lines of business in immigration, citizenship and investigations.
Temporary Residence
Information that is collected via the Entry/Exit Program can be utilized to find out whether the foreign national has stayed beyond their period of stay in Canada.
This entry and exit information will be used by the IRCC for the following types of temporary residence applications:
• Temporary resident visas;
• Temporary resident permits;
• Visitor records;
• Work permits and work permit extensions;
• Study permits and study permit extensions; and
• Electronic travel authorizations (ETAs).
Permanent Residence
This entry and exit information will be used by the IRCC for the following types of permanent residence applications:
• Permanent resident cards;
• Permanent resident travel documents;
• Overseas refugees; and
• Family class sponsorships.
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