ETA and travel document

[sijazme]

I have a passport from Finland that is expired. I used it last year to obtain an ETA. This year I need to travel to Canada and don't have time to renew the passport. Can I use my other passport issued by Philippines and bring that to the airport for boarding a flight to Canada? Philippines is not a visa exempt country. Will I be allowed to board the flight with an ETA issued to a different passport?

 

[PMM]

Hi

I have a passport from Finland that is expired. I used it last year to obtain an ETA. This year I need to travel to Canada and don't have time to renew the passport. Can I use my other passport issued by Philippines and bring that to the airport for boarding a flight to Canada? Philippines is not a visa exempt country. Will I be allowed to board the flight with an ETA issued to a different passport?

1. No, you will not be allowed to board.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

I have a passport from Finland that is expired. I used it last year to obtain an ETA. This year I need to travel to Canada and don't have time to renew the passport. Can I use my other passport issued by Philippines and bring that to the airport for boarding a flight to Canada? Philippines is not a visa exempt country. Will I be allowed to board the flight with an ETA issued to a different passport?

No. If you are travelling on your Philippines passport, you need a TRV.

 

[bellaluna]

I have a passport from Finland that is expired. I used it last year to obtain an ETA. This year I need to travel to Canada and don't have time to renew the passport. Can I use my other passport issued by Philippines and bring that to the airport for boarding a flight to Canada? Philippines is not a visa exempt country. Will I be allowed to board the flight with an ETA issued to a different passport?

The reasons why you can’t are in the last two sentences of your post. It’s common sense.

 

[sijazme]

The reasons why you can’t are in the last two sentences of your post. It’s common sense.

It's not common sense. Canada could officially look at me as a Finnish Citizen because as is the case with many Canadian citizens who are unable to apply for TRV if they lose their Canadian passport because their other previous nationality stops being relevant once they have obtained Canadian Citizenship. Same logic could be applied to ETA visa holders that once you obtain an ETA, your other past nationalities stop having any relevance. Passport is just a travel document and not so much a proof of travel privileges in such cases.

Also I wonder how the members of this community are so absolutely sure about everything? Has anyone ever attempted travel on ETA + secondary passport from non-visa exempt country? My understanding is that it could be possible depending on the knowledge of flight boarding staff and how they feel on the day. Nothing is as black and white as this forum seems to suggest.

 

[steaky]

It's not common sense. Canada could officially look at me as a Finnish Citizen because as is the case with many Canadian citizens who are unable to apply for TRV if they lose their Canadian passport because their other previous nationality stops being relevant once they have obtained Canadian Citizenship. Same logic could be applied to ETA visa holders that once you obtain an ETA, your other past nationalities stop having any relevance. Passport is just a travel document and not so much a proof of travel privileges in such cases.

Also I wonder how the members of this community are so absolutely sure about everything? Has anyone ever attempted travel on ETA + secondary passport from non-visa exempt country? My understanding is that it could be possible depending on the knowledge of flight boarding staff and how they feel on the day. Nothing is as black and white as this forum seems to suggest.

I don't think Canada can verified that you are Finnish citizen based on your expired passport.

 

[sijazme]

I don't think Canada can verified that you are Finnish citizen based on your expired passport.

Canada can verify it's own ETA expiration date yes? And it can verify my identity yes. I think when you board a flight, it's the airline staff that does this checking and not some Canadian immigration official. I am just guessing but I would think that it is entirely possible to board a plane with an ETA and secondary passport from another country.

 

[bellaluna]

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/eta/facts.html

An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is an entry requirement for visa-exempt foreign nationals travelling to Canada by air. An eTA is electronically linked to a traveller’s passport. It is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first. If you get a new passport, you need to get a new eTA.

Your eTA would be expired based on the expiry of your Finnish passport's date.
If you present your expired Finnish passport--it's not valid because it's expired. You wouldn't be able to combine it with some other travel document.
If you present your Philippine passport, your actual valid travel document--the airline and immigration official will check for a valid TRV.

I am just running on that assumption that your eTA is expired by now, unless by some deviance of the rules your eTA is still active in spite of your Finnish passport's expiration.

Canada can verify it's own ETA expiration date yes?

Through the magic of the Internet, you too can verify your eTA status here:
https://onlineservices-servicesenligne.cic.gc.ca/eta/applicationQuery?lang=en

And it can verify my identity yes.

No, that's not how it works. See canuck_in_uk's post below.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

It's not common sense. Canada could officially look at me as a Finnish Citizen because as is the case with many Canadian citizens who are unable to apply for TRV if they lose their Canadian passport because their other previous nationality stops being relevant once they have obtained Canadian Citizenship. Same logic could be applied to ETA visa holders that once you obtain an ETA, your other past nationalities stop having any relevance. Passport is just a travel document and not so much a proof of travel privileges in such cases.

Also I wonder how the members of this community are so absolutely sure about everything? Has anyone ever attempted travel on ETA + secondary passport from non-visa exempt country? My understanding is that it could be possible depending on the knowledge of flight boarding staff and how they feel on the day. Nothing is as black and white as this forum seems to suggest.

Why did you bother asking if you weren't going to accept the answer?

There is no way to confirm you are a Finnish citizen without a valid passport. Airlines are very conscientious of things like this because if you are refused entry by CBSA based on invalid documents, the airline is financially responsible for flying you back and can be fined.

Other citizenships do not stop being relevant. Canadian citizenship has nothing to do with your situation; many countries require their own citizens to enter on their passports instead of foreign ones. That logic is not applied to visitors to Canada.

 

[sijazme]

Why did you bother asking if you weren't going to accept the answer?

The account of Isaac Newton's discovering the principle of universal gravitation by observing the fall of an apple to the ground is very well known and usually dismissed as apocryphal.

Why bother investigating the fall of an apple from the tree if you aren't going to accept that that's what usually happens?

 

[canuck_in_uk]

The account of Isaac Newton's discovering the principle of universal gravitation by observing the fall of an apple is very well known and usually dismissed as apocryphal.

Why bother investigating the fall of an apple from the tree if you aren't going to accept that that's what usually happens?

Ah, yes, because you are Newton and that perfectly applies to this situation...

 

[sijazme]

Ah, yes, because you are Newton and that perfectly applies to this situation...

If you never question the law, you my friend, will never be Newton or anything like it.

 

[sijazme]

The correct answer is that there is no way an ETA would have been issued beyond the expiry date of the passport and therefore the original question is invalid.

 

[canuck78]

The correct answer is that there is no way an ETA would have been issued beyond the expiry date of the passport and therefore the original question is invalid.

The answer would also be no valid Finnish passport, no benefits from the Finnish passport like only needing an ETA.

 

[zardoz]

I have a passport from Finland that is expired. I used it last year to obtain an ETA. This year I need to travel to Canada and don't have time to renew the passport. Can I use my other passport issued by Philippines and bring that to the airport for boarding a flight to Canada? Philippines is not a visa exempt country. Will I be allowed to board the flight with an ETA issued to a different passport?

1) When you provide the expired, therefore invalid, Finnish passport to the check-in desk and they scan it, it will be instantly rejected by the system as invalid.
2) When you then provide the valid Philippines passport, they will examine it for a valid visa and reject it. Scanning it would also probably result in a "no board" outcome by default.

The combination of a valid passport and it's electronically linked eTA is what would have resulted in a "board" confirmation from the check-in system, if an eTA is attached to a valid passport.