NO VISAS to Canada for Poles in the near future

We got an email the other day urging us to sign an on-line petition:


polishcongress.ca<< Click here to sign the petition...

Please do your part to end the ridiculous requirement for Polish visitors to have a visa.

I understand the Polish prime minister, Tusk, is going to be visiting Canada in March, although the date has not yet been officially announced. From what my sweetie read in Polish news items (I do not speak/read Polish) one of the reasons for this will be to be here in Canada for the historic announcement of Polish people *finally* not needing visas to come here. Anyone else here heard anything about this?

Ottawa to drop demand of visas for Polish visitors

theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080222.VISAS22/TPStory/National

Announcement soon?

Announcement tomorrow!

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  Announcement
  

Yep, I got that invitation, too. Hooray.

Shawn, now your wife's family can come over unannounced... just knock on your door at 2 a.m. - straight from the airport. Hehehhe. (just kidding)

in polish news (telegazeta TVP1 strona 126) is wrotten that today miniter of canadian sth will annouce poles doesnt need visa to go to canada for 3 months!

i can imagine selection on the airport ...

but its good news :)

As long as they bring some nice gifts, that's ok.

news.gc.ca/web/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=382699&categoryid=1& category=News+Releases

Done!

It is interesting EU doesn't have problems when one single country negotiates visa programe with Canada, but it is problem when it comes to US ;-)

BTW very nice move of Canadian governemnt

So do I need a passport for this or is an ID card enough?
I have no idea why I should go to Canada (maybe Niagara Falls, but I'm not sure if I would need to cross the US border?), but I've never been over the Big Water so it's somehow tempting (I'm simply not very keen of flying, besides with all those problems US makes when applying for their visa I nevr considered such a move), just want to know, because I don't intend to apply for a passport anytime soon :)

I understand that because of the oil sands there are a lot of high-paying jobs in Alberta, CA. And although the Visa Waiver Program for Canada doesn't mean an automatic work permit, probably it would make it easier to obtain it to a Polish citizen rather then a citizen of a third country.

Maybe some Polish-Canadians here could help our Brothers and Sisters from Poland with some information helpful to find an employment there? From what I read the jobs are well paid ($80,000+).

npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=6108995&m=6108996
NPR Broadcast I

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6108995
NPR Broadcast II

npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6108995
Canadian Oil Draws World-Wide Mix of Workers

i have been following your discussion here and i have to tell you that although canadian govt lifted visitors visas for Poles we still have to struggle if we want to move there. I have been to canada 2 in winter and early fall, and I am absolutely in love with this country. I would love to live there, I met wonderful people, life is so much more peaceful and better than here in the UK.

Anyway back to the visas-now when you enter canada you have only 2 months to remain as a visitor, before when you were aplying for a visitors visa you had 6 months. I dont think i am that accited about the govt decision.

I wish we could work freely in Canada, just as we can within most EU.

I believe you will need a passport Krzystof. Once you have it, if you even think there will be a need to go to the US, you should apply for a visa. I am not sure about the success rate of getting the visa, but I don't think it is very high.

Canada is well known for it's scenery, but it is a very large country. You wouldn't be able to see it all in a few weeks without extensive travel...

SEARCH THROUGH SOME OF MY POSTS.. I POSTED A LINK TO THE WEBSITE THAT DEALS WITH THIS EXACT ISSUE. IT WAS IN SOME THREAD RELATED TO JOBS IN CANADA

Looks like you Poles may be on the visa waiver program for the US aswell within the next two weeks. Thats what the local radio broadcast today, hang on! its not April 1st is it?

I just heard on the radio that Polish and the US governments are negotiating this very issue right now in conjunction with the anti-missile shield. The VWP is probably very close now.


I wish Poles and all the EU citizens could live and work both in Canada and the US and vice versa. That would bring both continents so much closer. Heck, I'd like to see a deal like that including EU, N. America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The whole Developed World should be a free work-n-live zone, if it was up to me.


I think the biggest difference is that there is too many Poles in the EU at the moment (not their fault); therefore you can see some anti-Polish xenophobia (also understandable).

I'm not so sure it will be easy to get a job like that. Companies stand to lose a lot if they employ undocumented workers.

More realistically, illegals will get a job on a farm (almost year round), making somewhere between $8 and $10 per hour cash (in Ontario). Farming is pretty much the only industry where the government seems to look the other way when it comes to the legalities of employment. Other than that, probably the usual low wage jobs such as cleaning, personal care, of work for some small time construction joints.

you are an idiot, aren't you?

or perhaps somebody with a big chip on his shoulder.

Oh, well.

Can someone please clarify..Is it the case that Polish people can legally seek work in Canada or they can only go there on holiday, but then they can apply to get a work visa to stay? What about British people, do you have to secure a job first and then apply for a work visa or can you come on a tourist visa and then later apply? I would love to emigrate to Canada with my Polish partner.

If you come as a tourist you need a valid passport and can stay up to 90 days, you cannot work and nobody will give a permit. If you want to emigrate you have to become a permanent resident by being sponsored by somebody (immediate family) or claiming refugee status (and that is a very long and expensive process and for Poles basically not possible). If you want to work you have to find a company who will apply for a working visa for you.

Does anyone have the exact info as to how long a polish person can stay in Canada?

I'm finding 6 months Max without a visa. Some of you are saying 3 months. Does anyone have a link to an official site? I couldn't find it on CIC

In the US countries without visas can stay up to 90 days.
With a visa it's up to 6 months. It might be the same for Canada.

Found out the exact requirements from immigration Canada.
With the new biometric passport, polish citizens can stay 6 months in canada with no visa requirements.

Without the passport, you need a visa.

no entry to canada for poles & dogs..

Bounced at the border, eh? Loser.

The Canadian side of Niagara Falls is what you want to see. Americans didn't invest a whole lot on their side of the river, so there is no point in crossing the border, unless you like Buffalo chicken wings (yummy)., or want to see what happens to cities when jobs are exported abroad. Once the 4th largest (in economic terms) city in the US, Buffalo is now known as a city with freaky snow weather.

The best time to visit Niagara is in Summer months when they offer a lot of festivals, special events and the area is simply pretty to just be here. Late Fall and Winters are drabby and not much to do or see here, even though they do some little tricks around the Falls.

When my sister visited a few years ago I kinda worried what I could show here here in the region, so I started doing research and long story short - after two weeks of intense tourism she siad enough, and just went with her hubby to Algonquin National Park for a couple days.

Toronto is just a stone throw away (100+ km) but frankly, other than a museum and an odd theater (like hundreds in Poland) I'm not sure why anyone would like to visit Toronto. Once an example of a great success in most urban studies curricula, it is now used as an example of a failure. A city without a soul, constantly trying to (re) define itself.

One "interesting" place in the area is Hamilton, about half way between Niagara and Toronto. It is called by some Ontario's Anus, as the only parts of the city visible from the highway traveled by millions are industrial installations.

As for the rest of Canada... when do I start? The biggest attraction here is raw nature. Pure and untouched in most parts. If you travel by private plane you can see quite a bit in two or three weeks ;)

stop bashing Toronto. You are behaving like a real Canadian;). Hamilton is very polluted, so I am not sure it is the best tourist attraction.

Don't kill the messenger ;)


It's good just for a drive by.
As for the pollution, sorry to mention Toronto again, but I look in its direction every day coming from work, driving down from the top of the hill close to Vineland Estate Wineries. More often than not the city is covered in haze, aka smog, so I can't see any of the city's tall stuff.

To be fair, the air quality in Hamilton is better than that in most of Niagara. It's got to do with the Escarpment and how it plays out on the grand scheme of (climactic) things.

I am not. Support your argument and I will get off your case.


fair enough, but how can you explain the fact that I can see the city lights all the way to Buffallo????

Besides Toronto has many interesting places too see which are not in any guide books. Little pockets of really interesting things for every tourist.

AGO has just been reopened.

Thanks for the information about Niagara Falls and the surroundings.
So I see I have lots of time (before the summer) to plan an eventual trip.
I'm still not sure why I should go to Canada, but I've never left Europe, so this sounds really tempting and ... exotic :)

Do you have any idea what the prices are for hiring a private plane with a pilot (just an estimate, I don't need exact figures) and how many tourists can travel by such planes?

I have no idea if I could afford such thing without spending too much of my savings ...