Canada Lists 1 Country Whose Citizens Can Enter With an ePassport Instead of Visa

The Canadian government confirmed that Romanian citizens can travel to Canada by air without a traditional visa under specific conditionsThe visa exemption applies only to holders of electronic biometric passports issued by Romanian authorities, excluding temporary documentsRomanians who secured an Electronic Travel Authorisation before December 1, 2017 may also qualify under a legacy provisionGhana’s top stories, now easier to find. Discover our new search feature!

Romanian citizens gained a notable travel advantage after Canada confirmed they may enter the country by air without a conventional visa, as long as they carry a valid electronic biometric passport.

The announcement, published through official Canadian immigration channels, clarifies that only machine-readable e-passports containing contactless integrated circuit chips qualify for the exemption.

Ottawa was direct about its reasoning for drawing the line at biometric documents. Canadian authorities explained that the process for issuing temporary

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Romanian passports moves faster precisely because it is designed for urgent situations, and does not gather the same depth of personal information as the standard electronic passport application, particularly biometric data.

Because emergency documents bypass the comprehensive checks that Canadian border agencies rely on, travellers carrying them must still apply for a visa before boarding a flight to Canada.

There is, however, an exception for a specific group of Romanian travellers. Those who obtained an Electronic Travel Authorisation before December 1, 2017 retain the right to enter Canada by air under the visa exemption, even if their current travel documents would not ordinarily qualify under the updated rules.

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For all other Romanian nationals who neither hold a qualifying e-passport nor possess one of these pre-deadline authorisations, a standard temporary resident visa remains a compulsory requirement before any flight to Canada can be boarded.

The policy reflects Canada's broader approach to balancing openness with border security, tying visa-free access to the availability of verifiable biometric data rather than citizenship alone.

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh reported that Ontario had updated its immigrant nominee scoring system on October 5, 2026, adding a new top earnings bracket.

Candidates earning at least $80,000 annually received 10 points under the Ontario Workforce Priority Stream.

The change formed part of a broader overhaul of how Ontario selected foreign nationals for provincial immigration.

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Salifu Bagulube Moro (Human-Interest Editor) Salifu Bagulube Moro is a Current Affairs Editor at YEN.com.gh. He has over five years of experience in journalism. He graduated from the Ghana Institute of Journalism in 2018, where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Communication Studies with a specialization in Journalism. Salifu previously worked with Opera News as a Content Management Systems (CMS) Editor. He also worked as an Online Reporter for the Ghanatalksbusiness.com news portal, as well as with the Graphic Communications Group Limited as a National Service Person. Salifu joined YEN.com.gh in 2024. Email: salifu.moro@yen.com.gh.