The Canadian immigration service plans to further digitise the application process for the Canada eTA. One possible change would be for passport details to be automatically populated in the application form via a passport scan. Another option would be the introduction of a dedicated app for the application process.

The eTA travel authorisation for Canada

The eTA is a travel authorisation that allows travellers to visit Canada for a holiday, business trip or transit. European travellers, including British and Irish nationals, are eligible for the Canadian eTA. On e-Visa.ie you can easily submit your application and you’ll be able to contact our support team at any time if you need help. Once the application has been submitted, the eTA is usually issued within 3 days If you need your eTA urgently, you can submit an urgent application. Urgent applications are processed on average within 45 minutes Once approved, the eTA is valid for up to 5 years for multiple trips. You can read more about the validity and the requirements.

The digitisation of the application process

Currently, the application process simply involves filling in the application form. Travellers do not need to provide any additional documents, such as a photo or scan of their passport or a selfie. Furthermore, travellers enter the details manually. This makes the application process for the Canada eTA straightforward compared to travel authorisations for other countries. The downside, however, is that typing errors can occur when copying the details from the passport.

If the details on the eTA do not fully match those on the passport, travellers will not be allowed to board their flight to Canada. This often leads to unpleasant situations for travellers. Automatic data recognition could potentially help to alleviate this problem. Furthermore, the applicant’s passport could be verified during the application process itself.

Possible changes to the application procedure

One option under consideration is to add an extra step to the application process, whereby the details would be extracted from the passport using automatic text recognition.

Another option would be to introduce a dedicated app for submitting eTA applications. In this case, the passport details could also be read using optical character recognition or NFC technology. However, some countries do not issue passports with NFC chips. A separate procedure would need to be put in place for these travellers.

Possible consequences for travellers

The Canadian immigration service emphasises that, with the proposed changes, the eTA system will handle personal data more effectively and reliably. However, adding extra steps to the application process could lead to an increase in the cost of the eTA. Applicants may also find the application process more complicated. It is not yet clear whether or when the application process will be updated.