Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET)

On March 17, 2022 the federal government created the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) program to help Ukrainians fleeing the invasion of their country, to travel to Canada.

There are several very generous features to this program:

1. It covers Ukrainian nationals and their spouse, common-law partner, children, and in very limited cases, grandchildren, even if the family member is not a Ukrainian national themselves.
2. There are no filing fees.
3. Ukrainian nationals and their family members as described above may apply for a three year visitor visa.
4. Ukrainian nationals and their family members as described above may also apply for a three year open work permit while applying for the visitor visa.
5. Even unvaccinated people will be allowed to travel to Canada. They will still be subject to testing and quarantine upon entry.
6. Children will be allowed to study at a Canadian elementary or secondary school, probably without a special permit. Those who wish to study at college or university will be allowed to apply for a study permit after they arrive in Canada.
7. These rules extend to Ukrainians and their family members as described above, who are already in Canada.
8. Applicants will still need to provide biometrics before they are allowed to travel to Canada. "Biometrics" means that they will have to attend at a private company called a "Visa Application Centre" (VAC) to be fingerprinted and photographed. The biometrics are digitalized and compared to a database. This step is to weed out people who have a criminal record or may be a security risk.
9. Some of the people who have fled Ukraine will not have a valid Ukrainian passport in their possession. The Canadian government will in some cases issue them a single use Canadian Travel Document.

This situation is evolving. This is all that is known at this time.

We are also promised a special program to allow Canadian citizens or Canadian permanent residents to sponsor some members of their family for permanent residence. No details are yet known about this program.