My wife and have this travel coming up, only about a 3 hour layover in YVR, was able to find this in Lufthansa First well in advance so jumped on it versus only getting to the East coast.

I assume just like if transiting in US from a foreign country we'd have to go through immigration to enter Canada and then maybe can preclear in YVR to US? Or since transitioning is pre clearance not an option, that we will have to go through immigration in SFO? Will we have to collect checked bags and go through Canadian immigration with them(and US pre clearance if available)? We are on Lufthansa then Air Canada which I assume doesn't matter.

I was reading today about New Zealand requiring ETA's before a trip-in a sense an electronic visa. I recall now that there was something in the window of my booking details with Lufthansa about an ETA requirement but couldn't get the link to work to get further information. Is this some that we, US Citizens traveling from Germany, be required to do to enter Canada? Anything else I should know about with this routing? Obviously its a relatively short layover in Canada and if things go wrong and we miss our connection I assume we'd be spending the night in Vancouver.

 

I have recently seen the same question in another forum.
May have been in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/cana...?daysprune=100
Or Air Canada forum

Edit
From last year-->Europe - YVR - US - Claim bags at YVR and take a different flight to US?

YVR airport web site http://www.yvr.ca/en/passengers/navi...ssenger-guides

 

YVR is a U.S. preclearance POE. So you will go through U.S. immigration and customs in Canada (YVR). No Canadian formality is required. Your baggage need not to be collected. If an inspection is required, the U.S. CBP will pull the bags. You will arrive in SFO as a domestic flight without any further inspection.

But you still need to have a transit visa or eTA from Canada.

 

The OP said that they are US citizens. So they shouldn't need any visa to transit through Canada, right?

 

That certainly is my assumption but I'm not entirely sure these days. Traveling to and from Canada to US certainly has required nothing special, at least last June.

The link above for YVR, thanks for that, also doesn't indicate this, but it may only being focused on navigating the airport, not paperwork requirements.
I noticed the link for eTA on the Lufthansa website, maybe there for German citizens transiting and arriving in Canada.

 

U.S. citizens are generally "exempted" from transit visa unless in special circumstances. But again - OP knows their own situation well. It is a question that should defer back to OP.

 

What special circumstances are those? I've never heard of US citizens requiring any kind of visa to enter Canada, much less transit.

 

There are some circumstances that a U.S. citizen may need a visa in advance. For example, including, but not limited to:

1. When you are deemed inadmissible by Canada (i.e. you have a criminal record);

2. Your purposes of entering Canada requiring a visa in advance, such as migration, work (not covered by NAFTA or etc.), stay beyond 6 months, etc.

3. Last but not the least - you are not using either Canadian or U.S. Passport entering Canada (eTA is deemed as a visa for the purpose of this discussion).

 

Rather than asking us, use IATA Timaticweb, which is what the airlines use to determine if passengers have sufficient documentation, visa etc. to allow them to fly. United has an online version: https://www.united.com/web/en-US/app...aspx?i=TIMATIC.

 

I don't know about inadmissible people, but US citizens coming to Canada for work/study/immigration don't need a visa or eTA. They need a permit/PR acceptance letter so they can get their document and be allowed in but that's different from a visa.

 

1. The permit is on top of the visa. Each person with a permit is issued with a temporary resident visa (TRV).

2. Immigrant visa are issued for all PRs (at least outside Canada).