Do Indian passport holders need a visa for Canada?

By Aarush Chopra · Travel Writer, Tripmojo · Updated August 25, 2026 · Reviewed by Simran Raheja

Yes, an Indian passport needs a Temporary Resident Visa for Canada, applied for and approved before you travel. India is not in the expanded eTA programme, so a US visa or a previous Canadian visa does not change that. One thing does: if you are a lawful permanent resident of the United States, you are exempt from the whole apparatus and travel on your Indian passport plus your green card.

Quick facts

Visa required

Visa required: Yes, a Temporary Resident Visa
eTA: Not available. India is not in the expanded eTA programme
If you hold a US green card: Exempt. Passport plus green card, no eTA and no visa
Biometrics: Required, given at a visa application centre
Where to apply: Online. VACs across India handle intake and biometrics
In-person consular services: New Delhi only since October 2023
For parents and grandparents: The super visa, up to 5 years per entry

Entry requirements

An Indian passport valid well beyond your intended stay.
An approved Temporary Resident Visa, unless you are exempt as a US permanent resident.
Biometrics, given in person at a visa application centre.
Proof of the purpose of the trip, of funds, and of ties to India. The visitor test is whether you will leave at the end of the visit.
For a US green card holder instead: a valid Indian passport and a valid green card, both shown at check-in and at the border.

How to apply for a Canadian visitor visa from India

Check the green card question first, because it removes the application entirely. Lawful permanent residents of the United States have been exempt from the eTA requirement since 26 April 2022 and do not need a Temporary Resident Visa either. You travel on your Indian passport with your green card.

Otherwise apply online for the Temporary Resident Visa, then attend a visa application centre to give biometrics. The centres are run by a private contractor rather than by Canadian staff, which is why they operate normally in cities where the consulate does not.

Expect decisions to be made outside India. Since October 2023 in-person consular operations at the consulates general in Chandigarh, Bengaluru and Mumbai have been suspended and services centralised to the High Commission in New Delhi, with adjudication distributed across Canadian processing networks.

Do not plan around a published average. Processing times on this route move with volume and season, and India is Canada’s single largest source of visitor applications, so the queue behaves differently here than the global figure suggests.

Good to know

A US green card is the most valuable document in this conversation and most people do not know it counts. Lawful permanent residents of the United States are exempt from the eTA requirement for every method of travel to Canada, and they do not need a visitor visa either. You show your Indian passport and your green card, at check-in and again at the border, and that is the whole procedure. Note the mechanism: it is an exemption, not a cheaper alternative authorisation, so there is nothing to apply for and nothing to pay. Advice that tells a green card holder to get an eTA has the rule slightly wrong and will send you to a form you do not need.
If the trip is your parents visiting you, the visitor visa is probably the wrong route. Canada runs a super visa for parents and grandparents of citizens and permanent residents: multiple entry, valid up to ten years, and up to five years in the country per visit rather than the usual six months. It asks for an immigration medical, private health insurance valid at least a year from entry, and a host who meets a minimum income. Two recent changes make it easier than the version people remember: the insurance may now be bought from an insurer outside Canada, and from 31 March 2026 the host can meet the income test in either of the two preceding tax years, with the visiting parents’ own income counted towards the remainder.
The consulates being shut and the visa centres being open is not a contradiction, and it changes where you go. In-person operations at Chandigarh, Bengaluru and Mumbai have been suspended since October 2023 and consular services run from New Delhi. The visa application centres in those same cities are unaffected, because they are operated by a contractor and handle intake, biometrics and passport transit rather than decisions. So you still give biometrics locally; what you cannot do locally is anything requiring a Canadian officer.
India being outside the expanded eTA programme catches people who have watched neighbours use it. Canada does let some visa-required nationalities fly on an authorisation instead of a visa, and the list has grown over time, which makes it reasonable to assume India is on it or about to be. It is not. A valid US visitor visa in an Indian passport, or a Canadian visa from five years ago, does not open that door either. Only permanent residence in the United States changes the answer.

Frequently asked questions

Do Indian citizens need a visa for Canada?

Yes, a Temporary Resident Visa applied for before travelling. India is not in Canada’s expanded eTA programme, so an eTA is not an option.

I have a US green card. Do I still need a Canadian visa?

No. Lawful permanent residents of the United States are exempt from both the visa and the eTA requirement. You travel on your Indian passport and show your green card at check-in and at the border.

Does a US visa let me use an eTA instead?

No. A US visitor visa does not make an Indian passport holder eligible for the eTA. Only US permanent residence changes the requirement.

What is the super visa for parents and grandparents?

A multiple-entry visa valid up to ten years that allows stays of up to five years per visit, rather than the usual six months. It requires an immigration medical, private health insurance valid at least a year, and a host meeting a minimum income.

Can I apply in Chandigarh, Mumbai or Bengaluru?

You can give biometrics there: the visa application centres are open. In-person consular operations at those three consulates have been suspended since October 2023, with services centralised to the High Commission in New Delhi.

Other passports for Canada

Other destinations for India passport holders

Sources

Every fact on this page was checked against the official sources below on 25 August 2026.

Wikipedia, Visa policy of Canada (raw source checked 2026-08-25) — India appears only in a 1981 note imposing the visa requirement and in the visitor-statistics tables; it is absent from every exemption and eTA-eligibility list (en.wikipedia.org)
IRCC — lawful permanent residents of the United States are exempt from the eTA requirement for all methods of travel and must show a valid passport of nationality plus a valid green card; in effect since 26 April 2022 (canada.ca, ircc.canada.ca help centre)
IRCC — super visa for parents and grandparents: multiple entry, valid up to 10 years, stays of up to 5 years per visit, immigration medical, private health insurance valid at least one year and now purchasable outside Canada, host minimum income; from 31 March 2026 the income test may be met in either of the two preceding taxation years with the applicants’ income counted towards the remainder (canada.ca)
Global Affairs Canada — the Consulates General in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai are temporarily suspending in-person operations; consular services are available at the High Commission in New Delhi (international.gc.ca)

Entry rules change without notice and the official source is always the authority. Confirm with the embassy or immigration portal before you book.

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