Canada Visitor Visa from Dubai: Documents and Fees
Before you prepare a single document for a Canadian visitor visa, check whether you need one at all — because it follows your passport, not your Emirates ID. A UAE citizen flying to Canada needs an eTA costing CAN$7. An Indian, Pakistani, Egyptian or Sri Lankan passport holder living in the same building needs a full temporary resident visa at CAN$100 plus CAN$85 biometrics. Getting that one question right saves most people either a great deal of money or a great deal of time.
This guide covers the visitor visa — the temporary resident visa, or TRV — applied for from the UAE, and what Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada actually asks for.
First: visa, or eTA?
The requirement depends on citizenship. IRCC’s entry requirements by country page puts it plainly: what you need “will depend on your citizenship and nationality, how you’re travelling (by air, land or sea), what documents you’re travelling with”.
United Arab Emirates citizens are visa-exempt. The UAE is on the eTA list, not the visa list. An Emirati passport holder flying to Canada needs an electronic travel authorisation, which IRCC says “only costs CAN$7” and is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. An eTA is needed for air travel and airport transit, not for arrival by land or sea.
There is a second door worth knowing about. Citizens of a specific list of visa-required countries may apply for an eTA instead of a visa. As of the review date, the list is: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Philippines, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Seychelles, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Three conditions must all be met:
- You have held a Canadian visitor visa in the past 10 years, or you currently hold a valid United States non-immigrant visa;
- You are coming for a temporary stay, normally up to six months;
- You are flying to or transiting through a Canadian airport on a passport from one of those countries.
For Dubai’s large Filipino community this is worth reading twice. A Philippine passport holder in the UAE who already holds a valid US visa can fly to Canada on a CAN$7 eTA rather than a CAN$185 visa-and-biometrics application. IRCC marks Indonesia and Malaysia as recent additions. Indian and Pakistani passport holders are not on it and need the full visa. Check the official eligibility page before assuming either way.
The fees
From IRCC’s fee list:
- Visitor visa, per person — CAN$100
- Visitor visa, per family of five or more applying together — CAN$500
- Biometrics, per individual — CAN$85
- Biometrics, per family of two or more eligible people — CAN$170
A single applicant therefore pays CAN$185. A family of four pays CAN$400 in visa fees plus CAN$170 in biometrics, because the biometrics family rate applies from two people while the visa family rate only applies from five.
Biometrics
Most applicants give fingerprints and a photograph. IRCC exempts, among others, children under 14, applicants over 79 other than asylum claimants, people applying only for an eTA, and anyone whose biometrics are already on file and still valid.
The validity is generous and often overlooked: “Your biometrics are valid for 10 years.” If you gave them for an earlier Canadian application within that window, you do not give them again.
In the UAE they are collected at visa application centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, by appointment. IRCC’s own caution applies: “VAC services and opening hours may change on short notice.” Find the current addresses through IRCC’s visa application centre finder rather than a third-party page.
You must apply online
IRCC is direct: “You must apply online.” Paper applications are permitted only where a disability prevents online access, or where the applicant travels on a refugee or stateless travel document.
That matters for document preparation, because the checklist is not a fixed list you can download in advance. IRCC states: “When you apply online, you’ll get a personalized document checklist in the portal.” The questions you answer generate the list. It also warns that “Your visa office may require additional documents”.
The documents
Required of everyone:
- A digital copy of your valid passport or travel document — IRCC asks for validity of at least six months from the planned travel date.
- A letter authorising a minor child to travel to Canada, where a child is travelling.
Then the situation-specific items IRCC names on the apply page: for a tourist visit, a letter of invitation, proof of relationship, travel history, an itinerary and bank statements; for a business visit, a letter from the Canadian business and the event code where one applies; for a family visit, proof of the relationship.
Bank statements — what IRCC actually wants
Not a number. A picture. IRCC explains the purpose: “This can help us understand if you have enough money to support yourself during your stay in Canada.” It asks for the bank’s name and contact details so the information can be verified, that “Your name and address on the statement show that the account is yours”, and notes that “At least 6 months of account details, including balances, helps us understand your financial situation”.
IRCC publishes no minimum amount for visitors. We have checked the eligibility page, the apply page and the fee list; there is no threshold anywhere. Any specific figure you see quoted as “the requirement” has been invented. The eligibility page says only that you must “have enough money for your stay”, and that the amount “depends on how long you will stay and if you will stay in a hotel, or with friends or relatives”.
Six months of ordinary statements showing a salary arriving and a balance that was not deposited last Tuesday will do more for you than one large transfer.
The letter of invitation
Worth a careful word, because IRCC’s own pages are not consistent. The apply page says “You must include a letter from a person or business inviting you to Canada”, and for business visits “The letter must be written to you from the business or company.” The eligibility page, modified the same day, says you “may also need” one.
The safe reading: if someone in Canada is hosting or inviting you, include the letter. If nobody is, do not invent one. An invitation letter is evidence of your plan, not a substitute for your own ties.
The test the officer applies
It is set out in section 20(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act: to become a temporary resident you must hold the required documents and “will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay”.
IRCC’s eligibility page translates that into what you must show: a valid travel document; good health; no criminal or immigration-related convictions; enough money for the stay; that you “will leave Canada at the end of your visit”; and that you have “ties—such as a job, home, financial assets or family—that will take you back to your home country”.
For a UAE resident, that last point is where your Emirates residence does real work: a residence visa with time left on it, an employment contract, a tenancy and a salary paid here are exactly the ties the officer is looking for. Assemble them deliberately rather than hoping the bank statement speaks for itself.
Medical exam
Only for longer stays. IRCC requires one if you plan to stay more than six months and at least one of these applies: you lived in or travelled to a designated country or territory “for 6 months or more in a row in the year before you come to Canada”; you will work in a job where protection of public health is essential; or you are applying for a parent and grandparent super visa.
Whether the UAE is on the designated list decides this for most people reading here, and the list changes. Check it on IRCC’s country requirements page before you plan a stay over six months.
Processing times
IRCC publishes an estimate by country through an interactive processing times tool. Choose “Visitor visa (from outside Canada)” and “United Arab Emirates”.
We deliberately do not print a number here. The figure moves week to week, and IRCC states that times “will vary” and are “not a maximum or a guarantee”. A printed number in a guide is a number that will be wrong.
Arriving: what the visa actually gets you
Not entry. IRCC is explicit: “A valid visa and travel document don’t guarantee that you can enter Canada.” A border services officer decides admission, and must be satisfied you are eligible to enter and will leave at the end of your stay.
“Most visitors can stay in Canada for up to 6 months.” Where no passport stamp is given, you may be issued a visitor record showing the date by which you must leave. Your authorised stay runs to whichever comes first: six months from entry, your passport’s expiry, or your biometrics’ expiry. IRCC notes separately that “A visitor record is not a visa” — it does not let you re-enter Canada.
Our Canada visit visa page sets out what we prepare and check, and the visa services hub covers the other destinations.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Canadian visitor visa cost from Dubai?
CAN$100 per person for the visa and CAN$85 for biometrics — CAN$185 for a single applicant. A family of five or more applying together pays CAN$500 for the visas, and the biometrics family rate of CAN$170 applies from two eligible people.
I live in Dubai. Do I need a visa or an eTA?
It follows your passport, not your residence. UAE citizens need an eTA at CAN$7. Most other nationalities resident in the UAE need the full visitor visa, unless their citizenship is on IRCC’s expanded eTA list and they hold a valid US visa or have held a Canadian visitor visa in the past ten years.
How much money do I need in my bank account?
IRCC publishes no minimum for visitors. It asks that you have enough for your stay, and says the amount depends on how long you stay and whether you are in a hotel or with family. It suggests at least six months of account detail including balances.
How long are biometrics valid?
Ten years. If you gave biometrics for an earlier Canadian application within that window, you do not need to give them again.
Where do I give biometrics in the UAE?
At visa application centres in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, by appointment. IRCC warns that VAC services and hours can change at short notice, so use its own centre finder for the current details.
Do I need a letter of invitation?
IRCC’s pages differ. The application instructions direct you to include one where a person or business in Canada is inviting you; the eligibility page treats it as situational. Include it if someone is genuinely hosting you.
Do I need a medical exam?
Only if you plan to stay more than six months and one of IRCC’s conditions applies — including having lived in or travelled to a designated country for six months or more in a row in the preceding year. Check IRCC’s country list before planning a long stay.
How long can I stay once I arrive?
Most visitors can stay up to six months, but the border services officer decides. Where no stamp is given you may receive a visitor record showing the date you must leave, and your stay ends at the earliest of six months, your passport expiry or your biometrics expiry.