Frequently asked questions:
Visiting Canada

Why is Canada imposing a visa on the Czech Republic?

Under Canada’s immigration law, all visitors to Canada require a Temporary Resident Visa, except citizens of countries for which an exemption has been granted under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Canada assesses countries against several criteria when deciding whether to impose a visa requirement. The Czech Republic no longer meets all of the criteria for visa exemption. For example, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of refugee claims from Czech nationals. There were less than five claims in 2006. Since the visa requirement was lifted in October 2007, there have been nearly 3,000 claims. The Czech Republic is now the second top source country for refugee claims.

Since the visa requirement was lifted in 2007, there has also been a noticeable increase in the number of immigration violations. Violations range from not people not possessing the proper travel documents to people not leaving Canada once their period of stay had expired.