Making a mistake on a visa form can lead to issues for travellers, as complex visa processes and high costs associated with applying for a visa from any given country can cause stress. Fortunately, making a mistake on an application for an online travel authorisation, such as the Canada eTA, does not result in a large financial burden nor have a lasting impact on future visa or online travel authorisation applications.
What happens when I make a mistake on an eTA?
If an individual makes a mistake on an eTA application, the applicant will need to apply again, especially if their application was approved and they intend to travel to Canada with an eTA. Otherwise, if border authorities or Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) later discover an applicant is travelling on an eTA with invalid or false information, then the eTA will likely be cancelled.
Mistakes on biometric or passport information are critical as this information is used to link your eTA application to your identify. If this information does not match correctly, then any eTA application, be it approved or denied, is invalidated. Airlines will not be able to confirm your authorization matches to your passport when you try to board, and thus, you will not be permitted to fly to Canada.
Making a minor mistake on information such as mistyping information under the employment section of their application or providing information on their arrival date to Canada that varies slightly from their actual departure date is no cause for concern. In such circumstances, applicants should not be concerned about reapplying as fundamentally the information they provided was correct on their initial applicant.
What happens when an eTA is cancelled?
A cancelled eTA will result in an invalidated authorisation. Travellers will need to reapply for a new eTA if their previous authorisation is cancelled. However, since IRCC does not usually provide warning of cancelling eTA approvals, travellers should consider reapplying and fixing mistakes on their eTA application several weeks before they are due to fly to Canada, as their subsequent application may be processed under greater scrutiny if there are substantial differences between the two applications.
What if I provide an incorrect email address?
A correct email address is essential to ensure receipt of your application number and status of your eTA application. If you provided an incorrect email address, or your email provider does not provide access to blocked emails, then you will need to reapply for an eTA using an alternative email address. There is currently no option to obtain an application number with an invalid or incorrect email address, as IRCC only sends this information via email and does not display it onscreen after an application is submitted.
How can I check the status of my eTA?
Applications are advised to regularly check the status of their eTA and familiarise themselves with the status codes that the govern the eTA system. The status indicates what level the application has progressed with respect to IRCC’s workflow.