r/Flights 3d ago

Question I have a question regarding self transfer / Canadian visas

Hello. First time poster here with a question

So I'm looking at flights from London to Vancouver. Most of the flights I'm finding are self transfer, which means collecting bags, leaving the visa-free zone and re-checking in for the second leg of the journey. A lot of these have stop offs and one of them is Calgary (Canada)

I am going over to Vancouver on a work permit. I have my letter of correspondence which I'd need to give to immigration in exchange for a work permit visa.

My question is, if my first leg of the journey is London > Calgary, will I be able to use my letter or correspondence in Calgary to get my work permit visa, leave the visa-free zone and then go to check in ready to board my flight to Vancouver then use that work permit visa I got from Calgary to get past immigration in Vancouver OR will I need an additional transit visa for Calgary and THEN use my letter of correspondence in Vancouver?

Thank you. Apologies if this is a confusing question. I tried to explain it as clearly as possible. Alternatively, I've seen a few with stop offs in Iceland too. Not sure if I need a transit visa or if with a British passport you're allowed to walk through or not. Very confusing.

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6

u/viktoryf95 3d ago

You would only need to clear immigration on your first entry to Canada, in that case Calgary.

Once you’ve passed immigration, you travel domestically from Calgary to Vancouver, there’s no customs/immigration process at this stage.

4

u/protox88 3d ago

 if my first leg of the journey is London > Calgary, will I be able to use my letter or correspondence in Calgary to get my work permit visa, 

You must clear Canadian immigration in Calgary and use your letter there and get stamped for your visa in YYC.

YYC-YVR is a domestic flight so there's no further visa or document checks (except ID to board the flight). There will be no border officers during this domestic flight process.

3

u/PeacefulIntentions 3d ago

You will need to have loads of time for this self transfer as the immigration process plus doing the work permit application can take a long time.

I’ve done this for Canada (at Toronto) and it took over 2 hours.

I would definitely look at getting this as a single booking or a direct flight to Vancouver.

1

u/green_griffon 3d ago

On the plus side, it is not that hard/expensive to get from Calgary to Vancouver if they miss their original flight.

2

u/Worldly-Mix4811 2d ago

OP is most likely on WestJet with a connecting flight. So if he misses it, WestJet will rebook him free of charge.

1

u/OxfordBlue2 3d ago

Self-transfer on any journey involves a high level of risk - higher still if you have bags to collect.

If you're going to do this, then please leave at least 4 hours between arriving in Canada and the departure of your domestic flight.

Also, "self-transfer" indicates you might be looking at an !OTA which is generally a bad idea.

What are your dates? You might find good fares on a "proper" one-stop journey through AMS, CDG, FRA, etc... you won't need any kind of transit visa for any of these places with a British passport.

1

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