2 months later, ETA still not processed

[DannyG]

Hi, my mother who lives in the US on green card applied for an ETA to Canada in early September. The website says it should take minutes, and up to 3 days to process. but it has been months now, and no reply. we followed up by web form, no answer on that either

it could be that for one of the questions "have you been denied entry to Canada" we answered Yes (in full honesty) because a few years ago my mother was not allowed to enter Canada from the US because the US visa was approaching expiry, and the border officer was not comfortable with the risk that the US would not take her back and leaving her stranded in Canada... regardless, my mother has since gotten a Green Card and has travelled to Canada since then several times already, and every time was just fine. We explained all this in the box in the ETA application.

I would normally go the visa route instead, but here is the trick - online visa application portal does not allow her to proceed with a visa application because she is eligible for ETA...

Can somebody suggest any ideas here? Is there a way to reach out to CIC to get traction on this application? Christmas is approaching, and we were planning a big family reunion here in Canada. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[scylla]

Hi, my mother who lives in the US on green card applied for an ETA to Canada in early September. The website says it should take minutes, and up to 3 days to process. but it has been months now, and no reply. we followed up by web form, no answer on that either

it could be that for one of the questions "have you been denied entry to Canada" we answered Yes (in full honesty) because a few years ago my mother was not allowed to enter Canada from the US because the US visa was approaching expiry, and the border officer was not comfortable with the risk that the US would not take her back and leaving her stranded in Canada... regardless, my mother has since gotten a Green Card and has travelled to Canada since then several times already, and every time was just fine. We explained all this in the box in the ETA application.

I would normally go the visa route instead, but here is the trick - online visa application portal does not allow her to proceed with a visa application because she is eligible for ETA...

Can somebody suggest any ideas here? Is there a way to reach out to CIC to get traction on this application? Christmas is approaching, and we were planning a big family reunion here in Canada. Thanks so much for your help!

- Yes, the fact she was previously refused entry into Canada has made her application non-standard and is the reason processing is taking longer.
- There is no way to speed up the process. Only option is to wait.
- I'm assuming she plans on flying and that is why she needs the eTA.
- If she instead travels by land through a US / Canada land border, she can enter Canada based on her green card only (provided it's still valid).

 

[DannyG]

- Yes, the fact she was previously refused entry into Canada has made her application non-standard and is the reason processing is taking longer.
- There is no way to speed up the process. Only option is to wait.
- I'm assuming she plans on flying and that is why she needs the eTA.
- If she instead travels by land through a US / Canada land border, she can enter Canada based on her green card only (provided it's still valid).

thanks, i like this, not ideal travel plans for my mother who is a senior, but at least there's a way to make this all work