Transit in YYZ without clearing Immigrations?
 

A colleague who is a native of Peru needs to travel to Europe and is curious if she can fly on AC on the nonstop from LIM to YYZ then connect to MUC or FRA without clearing immigrations and customs. Has YYZ become a transit-friendly airport?

/ 05DEC09 / 2346 UTC



National Peru (PE) /Transit Canada (CA)
Destination Germany (DE)
ALSO CHECK DESTINATION INFORMATION BELOW


Canada (CA)


Visa required.

Additional Information:

- Visitor seeking entry may be required to produce documentary
evidence to establish, to the satisfaction of an immigration

officer,For details, click here
Warning:
- Visitors not complying with entry requirements may be
refused admission into Canada and deported at carrier's
expense. For details, click here


Germany (DE)



Passport required.
- Passports and/or passport replacing documents must be valid
for the period of intended stay.

Visa required.

Minors:
- Minors aged up to/incl. 15 years of age may be included in
the passport of a parent or guardian, provided
For details, click here
Additional Information:

- Visitors must hold visible means of support, onward/return
tickets or evidence of continuing journey by other means of

transport and/or other documents required for next
destination.

For details, click here
Warning:
- Passports must be signed by the bearer. Passports that do
not contain the signature of the bearer, will not be
considered as a valid travel document and the traveller
shall be considered as inadmissible into Germany.
- The Schengen agreement went into effect on March 26, 1995.
For details, click here
- Non-compliance with the entry/transit requirements (incl.
forged documents and unsigned passports) results in:
For details, click here

CHECK TINEWS/N1 - SCHENGEN ANNOUNCES NEW VISA EXEMPTIONS,
EFFECTIVE 19 DECEMBER 2009



Timaticweb Version 1.3
05 December 2009

See this link.
http://www.airportwayfinder.com/wayfinders/yyz/?v=3_6
Go to
"Terminal 1 Connections" and then "International to International" for the video.

Your friend will go through "Customs B" - generally a cursory customs/immigration check. So more transit friendly than the US, but not as friendly as Europe.
But this only works if your friend arrives in Terminal 1 and their bags are checked through to Europe.

Hope this helps

The question if one is from a country who needs a visa when entering Canada; does that person still need a visa when going through customs B, for such type of international flight to internation flight transit?

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-vo...t-iiv-eng.html
http://www.cic.gc.ca/English/departm...2009-07-30.asp

It appears that one may only transit without a Visa if the USA is your origin or destination, and if one is a national of certain countries, flying on certain airlines, arriving at certain times... And so, regardless of whether or not "Intl-to-Intl" without a visa is permitted, neither Air Canada or LAN are participating airlines.

where is the list of approved airlines, participating in this program?

I just noticed it only works at YVR too... so this option is a really moot point for the OP

So in Toronto, it means that the visa requirements whether one goes through Customs A, and enters the landside of the airport, or goes through Customs B, and stays airside, are identical?

You are, in fact, entering Canada either way.

But if you're only staying in Canada for a matter of a few hours, and you're not leaving the secure area, then what is the point of requiring a visa? It's just a waste of personnel time, for them having to process the visa, as well as the traveler's time and money.

Maybe some day more airlines will be added to the exempt list.

What if you surreptitiously don't fly out? Oe, what if all passengers, with whom you are co-mingling, have to leave the gate area due to IROPs?

A normal international transit area doesn't allow you to leave the gate area without going through customs/immigration. (I believe this is the case in YYZ T1, though I've never gone through it.) And because of this, most airports that I have used that have this (*outside* of North America!) don't bother processing you when you are in transit.

The exception to this rule is if you're flying Intl->USA at YYZ. You go directly to US Immigration, and never talk to a Canadian border agent.

Lest the OP become confused by these two examples of altered circumstances:

In fact one must still satisfy Canadian immigration requirements. There is no inherent visa/passport waiver for this connection. If the USA declines to accept you, they will "send" you to Canada.


The Eurpean model doesn't exist here. Interesting anecdote your comment may be, but the OP will not gain from it as the model at YYZ, which you say you have never gone through (T1 at least), is in fact closer to the "normal international transit area" for North America than not.

Yes, a transit visa would have to be obtained in advance from a Canadian mission abroad. There is no fee for this service.

"I'm refugee, I'm refugee!"

The town of Gander used to do quite well from this phenomenon as a result of refueling stops at YQX. Then the feds started to require visas, and the whole refugee thing dried up.

Not sure if this has been addressed elsewhere but I want to be totally clear on the process before I buy the AC Z class ticket for my client:

From AC's website, I already know my client (holding a PRC passport and US visa) can fly from PVG to BOS connecting at YYZ without needing a Canadian transit visa, but it's the other direction I want to clarify - can they fly BOS-YYZ-HKG with a layover at YYZ without needing a Canadian transit or entry visa and does the AC check-in staff at BOS know this?

We can't hold the ticket too long and it's the last Z seat - so if someone can offer advise on this quickly, it would be greatly appreciated.

They must enter Canada for a purpose that is declared on the TDC that they fill out and hand to an agent of the CBSA when they arrive at YYZ. It is their judgement that makes the decision and there is no process of appeal. In addition, the airline can decide if they are eligible for entry and may refuse their boarding the flight. It is a question if the US Visa is acceptable as the basis for entry to Canada. Once they are admitted to Canada for the flight they are in an area that has no security for exiting. Thus, it is wise to get a ruling in writing from the Canadian Consulate in Boston. Since there are flights from the US to Hong Kong, there is no real reason to go through Canada except for the fare and the risk would not be worth the saving.

I found this online...but I want to make sure the AC agents at BOS will not have an issue and deny boarding.

It does say to or from the USA according to the AC web site:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/news/110328.html?src=hp_wn

Sorry to bump up an older thread, but I was truly unsure of the proper thread for my question.

My cousin just booked a ticket EWR-YYZ-CLE on the outbound (used Expedia) UA to YYZ and AC to CLE and then called me (I am resident travel guru in the family) to inquire how Immigration and Customs would work in Canada (and I guess the USA though he is a USA citizen so they really cannot deny him access to the USA) as he is connecting in Canada to fly what is essentially a domestic ticket.

He stumped me as I never even considered nor experienced such an itinerary in my life, so I am going to the real experts FTers for the answer.

Is my cousin able to stay in transit or must he clear Canadian Immigrations and Customs and then USA Immigration and Customs before boarding his flight to CLE?

Thanks,
Dan

Upon arrival in YYZ, just follow the signs for USA Connections - there may be a very quick doc check by Canadian immigration, but he will pre-clear US immigration before going to the departure gate.

Are flights US-Canada-US permitted? I thought there was some sort of arcane rule against this?

If the flights span multiple tickets (US-CAN ticket 1, CAN-US ticket 2), there is no problem....US-CAN-US or CAN-US-CAN on one ticket is a no-no.

So you mean as one of the "Freedoms of the Air" which set forth the rights of airlines to enter each others airspace?

I did not see the construction of the fare, but I wonder, could EXPEDIA sell a ticket that is not legal routing-wise?

Dan

If you check the Expedia confirmation, there might two Eticket numbers listed -if not, and they somehow constructed a cabotage itinerary, there will be a hefty debit memo in their future.

I checked the itin and it is one ticket on UA stock.

First Seg is UA operated
Second Seg is AC operated

Dan

Either way I advised my cousin to call EXPEDIA and see what is up.

My cousin called EXPEDIA and spoke with an outsourced call center employee who apparently said, "that since he (my cousin) is an American he is free to fly wherever he wants", which did not exactly answer my cousins question.

He pressed the outsourced call center employee who finally put him on-hold, came back and offered him a refund since he was unable to determine if the routing was legal or not and the outsourced employee admitted it looked funny to him too.

Now my cousin needs to find a better (or at least more legal route) between EWR-CLE as currently UA wants over $600 for the route.

Dan

I wouldn't call Expedia - I would call United and ask for a supervisor to review the ticket and determine if it's approved for travel. Don't mention routing issues or cabotage - let them make a determination on their own and request the record be documented accordingly.

If UA balks at the ticket, then go back to Expedia and demand a refund