Before entering Canada, most foreign nationals must apply for and receive a visa or other authorization. This section establishes the legal requirement to apply from outside Canada, critical for visitors, workers, and students.
(1)A foreign national must, before entering Canada, apply to an officer for a visa or for any other document required by the regulations. The visa or document may be issued if, following an examination, the officer is satisfied that the foreign national is not inadmissible and meets the requirements of this Act.
(1.3)The officer may refuse to consider an application for permanent residence made under subsection (1) if (a)the designated foreign national fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with any condition imposed on them under subsection 58(4) or section 58.1 or any requirement imposed on them under section 98.1; and (b)less than 12 months have passed since the end of the applicable period referred to in subsection (1.1) or (1.2).
(2)The officer may not issue a visa or other document to a foreign national whose sponsor does not meet the sponsorship requirements of this Act.
11.1 [Repealed, 2015, c. 36, s. 170]
11.2 (1) An officer may not issue a visa or other document in respect of an application for permanent residence to a foreign national who was issued an invitation under Division 0.1 to make that application if — at the time the invitation was issued or at the time the officer received their application — the foreign national (a)did not meet the criteria set out in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(e); (b)did not have the qualifications on the basis of which they were ranked under an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h) and were issued the invitation; or (c)did not meet the criteria for membership in a category that was established in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h.2), if they were issued an invitation on the basis that they were eligible to be a member of that category. (2) Despite subsection (1), an officer may issue the visa or other document if, at the time the officer received their application, (a)the foreign national did not meet the criteria set out in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(e) — or they did not have the qualifications on the basis of which they were ranked under an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h) or did not meet the criteria for membership in a category that was established in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h.2) — because the foreign national’s birthday occurred after the invitation was issued; or (b)the foreign national did not have the qualifications they had at the time the invitation was issued and on the basis of which they were ranked under an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h), but(i)they met the criteria set out in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(e),(i.1)they met the criteria for membership of a category established in an instruction given under paragraph 10.3(1)(h.2), if they were issued the invitation on the basis that they were eligible to be a member of that category, and(ii)they occupied a rank that is not lower than the rank that a foreign national was required to have occupied to be invited to make an application.