Traveling to Canada

Yesterday afternoon, when we got home from our Fort Ransom trip, I got a voice mail from one of the Filipina I met here in our town. I called her back and talked for a while. I told her about our plan of visiting the International Peace Garden, which is located on the border between Canada (province of Manitoba), and the United States of America (state of North Dakota). She told me that I need a tourist visa whenever I want to go or visit Canada. However, I told her she could go and visit Canada using her Philippine passport and her permanent resident card (Green Card).

Since I know someone who is from Canada and she is living in Louisville, Kentucky now, I contacted her and asked her about visitor visa for Canada. She said, I don't need one. When visiting Canada, except for Canadian citizens and Permanent Residents, all others require permission to enter Canada as a visitor, with or without a Temporary Resident Visa or TRV. Individuals who wish to enter Canada for a temporary purpose, such as tourist, temporary foreign workers (work permits) and international students (study permits) must apply for and be granted a temporary resident visa, unless they are citizens of a visa-exempt country.

Many people do not require a visitor visa when traveling to Canada. If you want to know the list of visitor visa exemptions, click here. It also says that persons lawfully admitted to the United States for Permanent Residence who are in possession of their alien registration card (Green Card) or can provide other evidence of Permanent Residence in the United States. You can always present any supporting documents that will prove that you are a Permanent Resident of the United States.

If you are a permanent resident of United States, you can present the following when entering Canada:

• a valid passport
• permanent resident card (Green Card)
• State Identification or Driver's License
• some proof that you are a permanent resident like bank statement, letter from your work or title deed of the house or vehicle