Qatari citizens are no longer required to apply for a visa before visiting Canada, the Gulf country's Ministry of Interior unveiled on Tuesday, November 25. This is due to the fact that Qatar joined Canada's Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) programme.

According to this programme, which is designated for citizens of visa-exempt countries wishing to travel to or transit through Canadian territory, Qataris can obtain an electronic travel approval via a process that only takes minutes.

In announcing the big development, the Qatari Ministry shared a QR code to guide citizens to the Electronic Travel Authorization to apply.

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The step comes as a result of ongoing cooperation and coordination between Qatar and Canada. "One of the key milestones was the visit of a delegation from the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to the Ministry of Interior in the State of Qatar from June 4 to 6, 2024," the Qatari Ministry commented.

Canada's eTA is an electronic programme which is designed for citizens of visa-exempt countries, allowing them to enter or transit through Canada through a simple online application. This applies to air travel so if nationals of these countries want to travel to Canada via sea or land, they do not have to issue an eTA. The cost of applying via the programme is only 7 Canadian dollars.

Here's a list of countries whose nationals are not required to get Canada visa prior to travel and can apply online to get eTA:

• Andorra

• Australia

• Austria

• Bahamas

• Barbados

• Belgium

• British citizen

• British National (Overseas)

• British overseas citizen (re-admissible to the United Kingdom)

• British overseas territory citizen with citizenship through birth, descent, naturalization or registration in one of the British overseas territories of:
  • Anguilla

  • Bermuda

  • British Virgin Islands

  • Cayman Islands

  • Falkland Islands (Malvinas)

  • Gibraltar

  • Montserrat

  • Pitcairn Island

  • Saint Helena

  • Turks and Caicos Islands

• British Subject with a right of abode in the United Kingdom

• Brunei Darussalam

• Bulgaria

• Chile

• Croatia

• Cyprus

• Czech Republic

• Denmark

• Estonia

• Finland

• France

• Germany

• Greece

• Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, must have a passport issued by Hong Kong SAR.

• Hungary

• Iceland

• Ireland

• Israel, must have a national Israeli passport

• Italy

• Japan

• Republic of Korea

• Latvia

• Liechtenstein

• Lithuania

• Luxembourg

• Malta

• Monaco

• Netherlands

• New Zealand

• Norway

• Papua New Guinea

• Poland

• Portugal

• Romania (electronic passport holders only)

• Samoa

• San Marino

• Singapore

• Slovakia

• Slovenia

• Solomon Islands

• Spain

• Sweden

• Switzerland

• Taiwan, must have an ordinary passport issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taiwan that includes the personal identification number

• United Arab Emirates

• Vatican City State, must have a passport or travel document issued by the Vatican

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