On May 26, 2026 at 5:30 a.m. ET, Canada quietly made a meaningful change for travellers from Indonesia and Malaysia. Eligible citizens of both countries can now apply for an electronic travel authorization (eTA) instead of a visitor visa when flying to or transiting through Canada — roughly one-tenth the cost, processed in minutes for most applicants, and no paper application.
It's not a blanket visa exemption. Eligibility is tied to two specific facts about your past travel. Here's exactly who qualifies, what it costs, and what hasn't changed.
Who qualifies
To use the eTA route instead of a visitor visa, you must be a citizen of Indonesia or Malaysia and meet one of these two conditions:
- You've held a Canadian temporary resident visa (TRV) within the last 10 years. That includes a visitor visa, study permit, or work permit that came with a TRV counterfoil in your passport. The visa doesn't need to be currently valid — it just needs to have been issued at some point in the last 10 years.
- You currently hold a valid US non-immigrant visa. Any class — B1/B2 visitor, F-1 student, H-1B worker, L-1 intracompany transferee, and so on. It must be valid (not expired) on the day you apply for the eTA and on the day you fly.
If you don't meet either condition, nothing has changed — you still need a regular visitor visa (TRV) to enter Canada.
This kind of partial eTA expansion is the same model IRCC has used for citizens of countries like Argentina, Costa Rica, Morocco, the Philippines, Saint Lucia, Seychelles, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. The program is sometimes called "eTA-X" within the immigration industry.
What changes — and what doesn't
What changes:
- Cost. An eTA costs CAD $7. A visitor visa costs CAD $100. You're saving 93% on the government fee alone.
- Speed. Most eTA applications are approved automatically within minutes. Visitor visa applications from Indonesia and Malaysia were typically taking weeks of paper processing.
- No biometrics for the eTA itself. Visitor visa applicants from Indonesia and Malaysia have generally needed to give biometrics in person at a visa application centre. eTA applicants do not.
- No paper handling. The eTA links electronically to your passport — no counterfoil, no shipping documents back and forth.
What doesn't change:
- You still need a passport. And it must be the same passport you used to apply for the eTA.
- Air travel only. The eTA is valid only if you arrive in or transit through Canada by air. If you're driving across the US-Canada border or arriving by sea, you'll still need a visitor visa.
- Visitor visa holders aren't forced to switch. If you already hold a valid Canadian TRV, you can keep using it until it expires.
- Length of stay. An eTA-equipped traveller can typically stay up to six months on entry, the same as a visitor visa holder. The officer at the port of entry decides the actual authorized stay.
- Not a work or study permit. The eTA only authorizes you to travel to Canada and request entry as a visitor. If your purpose is work or study, you still need the relevant permit.
- Security screening still happens. IRCC and CBSA continue to pre-screen all eTA applications and can refuse, just like with a visa.
Why now
The announcement frames this as an Indo-Pacific economic move, not a humanitarian one. Three numbers from the government's own release tell the story:
- $6.75 billion in bilateral merchandise trade with Indonesia in 2025
- 60% growth in bilateral trade with Malaysia between 2020 and 2025 (rising from $3.8B to $6.1B)
- ~30,000 visitors combined from both countries in 2025 (18,300 from Indonesia, 11,500 from Malaysia)
Indonesia is Southeast Asia's largest economy and Canada's second-largest export market in the region. Malaysia is one of Canada's largest bilateral trading partners in Southeast Asia. The policy is designed to make business travel cheaper and faster while letting Canada keep border-security control through the screening already done by Canada or US authorities on those eligible travellers.
The Minister of Immigration, the Honourable Lena Metlege Diab, framed it explicitly: this is about deepening engagement across the Indo-Pacific, supporting trade and investment, and making it easier for people to connect and do business.
How to apply for an eTA
The eTA application is online, takes about 10 minutes, and most decisions are issued within minutes:
- Have your passport, a credit card, and an email address ready. The eTA must be linked to the passport you'll travel with.
- Apply at the official IRCC eTA page. Do not use third-party sites — they charge extra and are not the official application.
- Pay the CAD $7 government fee. Some travellers are asked to submit additional documents or attend an in-person interview — most are not.
- Once approved, the eTA is electronically linked to your passport. You don't need to print anything, but most people print the email confirmation just in case.
- The eTA is valid for 5 years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first, and allows multiple entries during that window.
If your Canadian visitor visa expired more than 10 years ago — or you've never held one — but you have a current US non-immigrant visa, that's the path. Apply for the US visa first if you don't have one; for many Indonesian and Malaysian travellers, a US visitor visa is easier to obtain than a Canadian TRV and unlocks both countries at once.
What this is not
This is not a full visa-free arrangement like the one citizens of the UK, Germany, Japan, or South Korea enjoy. Citizens of those countries can fly to Canada with just an eTA regardless of prior travel history. For Indonesia and Malaysia, the eTA route is conditional — you must have already been pre-screened by Canada or the US.
This is also not a pathway to permanent residence or a work permit. Coming to Canada as a visitor on an eTA does not by itself put you on a route to PR. If your goal is to live and work in Canada permanently, the relevant pathways are still Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program, and category-based selection — not the eTA.
What's next
Watch for two follow-on signals:
- More Southeast Asian countries. Canada has been steadily expanding the eTA-X model. Vietnam and Pakistan are commonly named as candidates in commentary from Canadian immigration lawyers. No timeline has been announced.
- Indonesia–Canada CEPA. Canada and Indonesia signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in late 2024 that's been progressively implemented. Future trade agreements with ASEAN countries may bring more travel facilitation, but full visa exemption typically requires meeting Canada's overstay-rate and passport-security benchmarks.
If you're a citizen of Indonesia or Malaysia planning a trip to Canada — for a meeting, conference, family visit, or as a connecting stop on your way somewhere else — check whether you qualify for the eTA before paying $100 for a visitor visa. The difference is real money and a few weeks of your time.