Canada eTA FAQ & Tips

This is the classic. After years of reading passports at GetETA we still get caught by it: a passport number with a character that could be the letter O or the digit 0. Many European passports mix letters and digits, the fonts are small, the letters are not much wider than the digits — and most people do not even know there is a question. They type what they think they see, pay, and get the worst possible result: an eTA that looks approved and matches no passport. ...

Here is a situation we see far more often than you would expect at GetETA. Someone has lived in Canada for years. Works for a Canadian company. Holds, say, a British passport. Flies to England for a week to see family, and two days before the return flight applies for an eTA “to get back into Canada” — the way they always did. This time the eTA does not come in minutes. It sits. Two weeks later: refused. Reason: you are a permanent resident of Canada and do not need an eTA. They had permanent residence all along — and never connected “PR” with “I don’t need this”. Meanwhile the return flight is long gone, the employer is waiting, and the actual fix (a PR card or a travel document) takes its own time, from abroad. ...

A large share of the people who come to GetETA are not the travellers themselves. They live in Canada, and they are arranging an eTA for someone back home: parents coming to see the grandchildren, a sister coming for a wedding, elderly relatives who do not use the internet and would never manage a government form in English. This is a good thing to do for them — and it goes wrong in one very specific way. ...

Families with two or three children are where eTA applications go wrong most often — and not because parents are careless. It is because five passports are open on the kitchen table at eleven at night, the form asks the same questions five times, and somewhere around the fourth passport the names and numbers start to drift. The classic result, which we see at GetETA every week: the first child’s name, the second child’s passport number, and the third child’s date of birth — all on one application. Every field looks plausible. Nothing matches any real passport. The eTA is refused or silently useless at check-in, and the fix takes weeks, not minutes. ...

Every week someone writes to GetETA the night before a flight: “We are five, four got approved, my husband’s is still pending, what do we do?” Almost every one of these stories starts the same way — tickets bought first, eTA left for later. Here is the order that avoids it. The short answer eTA first, tickets second. Or at least: eTA before anything non-refundable. The eTA does not need a flight number, a date or a hotel. You can apply the moment you think you might go. It is valid for five years, so applying early costs you nothing — and it removes the one thing you cannot fix at the airport. ...

About one in ten people who contact GetETA do not actually need an eTA — and a few who think they need “just an eTA” actually need a visa. Four questions settle it. 1. Are you a Canadian citizen or permanent resident? Canadian citizen (including dual citizens): nothing. Fly on your Canadian passport. An eTA on your other passport will be refused. Permanent resident: nothing. Carry your valid PR card. If neither — keep going. Lived in Canada for years on a foreign passport and not sure what you hold? Read this first — applying for an eTA you do not need can leave you stuck abroad for weeks. ...

This one catches experienced travellers more than first-timers. You got an eTA in 2023, valid to 2028. You renewed your passport in 2025. You show up at the airport in 2026 — and the airline cannot find your eTA. The reason is simple: the eTA is stored against your passport number, not against you. The rule in one line An eTA lives and dies with the passport you applied with. Valid for five years or until that passport expires — whichever comes first. New passport, new number, no eTA. ...

The eTA form takes ten minutes — enough time to swap two digits. The bad news: once submitted, an eTA application cannot be edited. The good news: only some mistakes actually matter, and every one of them can be fixed before your flight. Which mistakes matter At check-in the airline scans your passport and looks for an eTA that matches it exactly. So the fields that must be perfect are the ones on your passport’s photo page: ...

A refused eTA feels like a door slamming. In practice it is almost always one of five situations — and each has a clear next step. Here is how we sort them out at GetETA. First: which kind of refusal is it? Read the refusal email. The wording tells you which path to take: “You are not eligible for an eTA” — something in your answers (criminal record, immigration history, health) rules out the simplified eTA route. You will most likely need a visitor visa instead. “The information does not match our records” — a mismatch with an earlier application or passport. Usually fixable. “You do not need an eTA” — you are a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, or your country needs a visa rather than an eTA. Living in Canada and not sure of your status? Check this before anything else. The five real reasons — and what to do for each 1. You answered “yes” to a background question A past conviction, a previous refusal or removal from any country, a serious medical condition. A “yes” does not refuse you automatically, but someone has to review it, and they may decide the eTA is not the right document for you. ...

“I applied an hour ago and still have nothing.” That is the message we get most often at GetETA. Nine times out of ten the eTA is already approved and the email is sitting in spam. Here is what to expect — and what to do when it is not that simple. What normally happens Most people: approved in 5–15 minutes. An email with your eTA number arrives and you are done. Some people: same day. First a “we received your application” email, then the approval a few hours later. A few people: 2–5 days. Usually a request for a document, or just a longer wait. Very rarely: more than 5 days. Almost always a past refusal, a “yes” on a background question, or a passport problem. This is what we see in practice, not a promise. Your case can differ. ...