Canadian Visa Question:

eDicky

Seanymph wrote: »

She would like to visit her Dad for a period of eight weeks this Summer, and undertake her work experience placement at a Canadian Farm - She has an offer to do that subject to completion of the necessary permissions and paperwork.

I wonder what these necessary permissions and paperwork are? Presumably not visa related or you would already know if one is needed.

Brits can visit Canada without visa, usually for up to six months, working not permitted. I guess you know this already. In a normal scenario, when your daughter presents her passport and immigration form to the border services officer on arrival, he or she will ask the purpose of her visit - to visit her father. The BSO will likely ask where he lives - mention town, suburb etc. She can also say brightly that she is hoping to go sailing/riding/camping or whatever, weather permitting... You should write a letter authorising her visit if she is under 18 and considered a minor in Canada, for her to show to the BSO if he/she asks for it. Another likely question is whether your daughter is bringing any gifts, for customs purposes. Don't take any kind of foodstuffs. Then the BSO marks a clearance on the form, hands it and the passport back and says "Have a great time". Then to the carousel for bags, hand the form to the officer at the exit and no doubt dad is waiting the other side.

One of the questions on the form is about any intention to visit a farm while in Canada (yes/no), for phytosanitary reasons.

Questions still remain of course, whether a work permit or visa is necessary for an unpaid work experience session during her stay, whether the farm is aware of such restrictions or casual enough not to worry about it, etc. Also my first question above.

I see that the only way to make an enquiry these days is by email, hopefully your daughter's email was clear and a straightforward answer can be given without the need for further exchanges. Then hopefully there can be time for the online or VAC visa application process, if it is necessary - which of course is your main concern.

eDicky

I will mention a trip I made to Vancouver several years ago to visit my (Canadian citizen) daughter, on arrival I was directed to the customs area for a thorough check. The BSO there discovered a small lime in my jacket pocket, forgotten and rather shrivelled from a previous trip to Venezuela - he dropped it ceremoniously into the bin and gave me a bollicking. He phoned my daughter to confirm my story. When we parted I thanked him for his diligence and he said, "That's ok, it's what we do". I asked the lady who issued my final clearance paper why I could have been pulled and she said I was probably flagged because I had flown in on a one-way ticket from Bangkok, which I had purchased with cash, and my passport was old and tatty so possibly falsified. I was then free to enter Canada and indulge in any nefarious activity I chose (none of course).

Anyway, that's an example of how the system works. Your daughter will of course have no such reasons to be flagged at the initial passport check, and if no mention is made of work or farms she will certainly breeze through, apart from the remote possibility that their system is now so sophisticated that a record of her enquiry to Canada House will show on the BSO's screen at the passport check.

I now seem to have divulged my underlying opinion and attitude regarding officialdom and avoidance of its undue effects on our lives. Canadians are in general open-minded and easy-going people; your daughter's intended work experience has no aspect of negative action. About 15 years ago my own daughter (British) did her work experience in Thailand with the marketing company of a friend of mine - the thought of applying for a work permit never even entered my head, and wouldn't now (but Thailand is not Canada...).