Dual intent with no return flight (from Australia)

[hanzi]

Hi guys, I'm Aussie and my Canadian common-law partner and I are hoping to move to Canada using a TRV or Tourist Visa while we wait to receive my PR.

Australia is still in super lockdown - I think there are 30,000 Aussies who are trying to fly home but with international flights cut because of COVID, there is a huge waiting list. Also return flights are insanely expensive. One way to Canada is $1400 ish but a return flight is around $11,000+.

So just wondering if anyone has entered on a TRV or Tourist visa without a return flight?
TIA!

 

[canuck78]

Hi guys, I'm Aussie and my Canadian common-law partner and I are hoping to move to Canada using a TRV or Tourist Visa while we wait to receive my PR.

Australia is still in super lockdown - I think there are 30,000 Aussies who are trying to fly home but with international flights cut because of COVID, there is a huge waiting list. Also return flights are insanely expensive. One way to Canada is $1400 ish but a return flight is around $11,000+.

So just wondering if anyone has entered on a TRV or Tourist visa without a return flight?
TIA!

Impossible to say it will be an issue. Assume you may be travelling with a lot of stuff so it will be pretty clear that you aren’t a visitor. Normal advice is to arrive like you were a visitor and not like you are moving. It is really up to the agent. Would explain why you don’t have a return ticket if asked. The return ticket is often to counteract the fact that you may appear as you are trying to move to Canada not visit. On some airlines and with some passports A return ticket is required to board a flight.

 

[steaky]

You are Aussie and visitor, so you need ETA.

 

[hanzi]

You are Aussie and visitor, so you need ETA.

Oh thanks! Sorry was pretty confused - so it looks like I can get an ETA and then don't need a visitor visa or TRV.

 

[armoured]

Oh thanks! Sorry was pretty confused - so it looks like I can get an ETA and then don't need a visitor visa or TRV.

You could make tentative plans to travel to other countries where Aussies do not require visas (and covid rules allow).

 

[scylla]

Hi guys, I'm Aussie and my Canadian common-law partner and I are hoping to move to Canada using a TRV or Tourist Visa while we wait to receive my PR.

Australia is still in super lockdown - I think there are 30,000 Aussies who are trying to fly home but with international flights cut because of COVID, there is a huge waiting list. Also return flights are insanely expensive. One way to Canada is $1400 ish but a return flight is around $11,000+.

So just wondering if anyone has entered on a TRV or Tourist visa without a return flight?
TIA!

IMO you won't have any issues entering Canada.

The place where you may have issues is boarding the flight. Generally speaking, unless you have a visa or status that allows you to live in Canada (e.g. work permit, study permit, PR), the airline wants to see that you have a return ticket. So there's some chance the airline will refuse boarding without a return ticket. You need to have a conversation with the airline.

Try searching on flight options where the return date is 5 months later. Prices drop significantly if you do that.

 

[armoured]

Generally speaking, unless you have a visa or status that allows you to live in Canada (e.g. work permit, study permit, PR), the airline wants to see that you have a return ticket. So there's some chance the airline will refuse boarding without a return ticket.

Try searching on flight options where the return date is 5 months later. Prices drop significantly if you do that.

I cannot speak for all airlines in all places ... but in my (necessarily limited) experience (albeit of family and friends and etc), airlines ask less and less for this because so many tickets are now bought on-line in one direction or with different airlines (and now no huge penalty like their used to be for purchasing one-way tickets). No-one in my personal acquaintance has ever mentioned being asked anything of the sort, in the last 10 years or so anyway.

Plus for a traveller with visa-free travel to other countries, or departing eg through USA, the answer can easily be "I'm going to UK/USA/EU" etc where tickets are now commonly sold reasonably cheaply.

(I'd hope the airlines out of Oz would be receptive to the response "I'll buy a return when the bloody prices go back to normal.")

YMMV and obviously may be more demanding for visitors from some countries, etc - I can't speak to that.

 

[nicko868]

I did this exact same thing in March. Just be completely open and honest with the immigration officer. Do you have any evidence of your PR application being in progress? That's all that I was asked to show. I flew with American and they didn't ask me for a return ticket but I was happy to book one and just cancel within the free 24-hour cancellation window. I think the prospect of an airline asking for a return flight seems a bit archaic as many times people are unsure of how long they intend to stay from a week to a month.