Canada has joined a growing list of nations, including Italy, Finland, Portugal, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Bulgaria, whose citizens now face tighter screening and more complex conditions when traveling abroad, as Saudi Arabia overhauls its electronic visa system while Europe prepares to roll out new biometric border controls. The combined effect is a rapidly changing landscape of entry requirements that will reshape how Canadians and other travelers plan trips to Saudi Arabia and more than eighty-five countries worldwide over the next year.
Saudi Arabia Narrows E Visa Access While Tightening Controls Around Hajj
Saudi Arabia, once a symbol of liberalizing visa access through its 2019 tourism e visa launch, is now recalibrating that openness with a series of targeted restrictions. Authorities have moved to limit short stay electronic visas to citizens of a select group of countries, while imposing temporary suspensions and stricter conditions for others in the run up to the Hajj pilgrimage season. Officials say the measures are designed to safeguard security, manage crowding and ensure that religious visas are used for their intended purpose.
Under the updated rules, Saudi short stay e visas are now effectively confined to nationals of what the country’s aviation regulator refers to as “Group A” states. This list includes Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, China, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey and Mauritius, among others. Applicants must typically hold a valid visa for at least one of these high trust destinations and demonstrate they have previously entered that country, a requirement that acts as an additional screening layer for Saudi authorities.
At the same time, Riyadh has temporarily halted or curtailed the issuance of multiple entry tourist, business and family visit visas for citizens of a separate cluster of countries with large pilgrim flows. For travelers from nations such as Egypt, India, Tunisia, Jordan, Algeria, Iraq, Sudan, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Libya, Yemen, Morocco and Nigeria, one year multiple entry permits have in many cases been replaced with single entry visas capped at 30 days around the Hajj season. Those already holding visas are being instructed to enter the kingdom by a set deadline and depart by a specific cut off date.
Saudi officials frame the changes as part of a broader enforcement push around Hajj and Umrah regulations. Overstaying a visa or entering the country on a non pilgrim visa to perform Hajj can now trigger penalties of up to 100,000 Saudi riyals, along with sanctions for travel firms and sponsors that fail to report violators. For legitimate tourists and business visitors from Canada and other eligible states, the message is clear: the doors to Saudi Arabia remain open, but the rules are stricter, the screening more data driven and the consequences of non compliance significantly higher.
Canada Among Key Beneficiaries Of Revised Saudi E Visa Scheme
Despite the tightening around pilgrimage related travel, Canadians are positioned relatively favorably within the revamped Saudi e visa framework. Canada sits inside the select group of nations whose citizens can still obtain a Saudi electronic visa for tourism, short stays or transit, often with the convenience of online processing or visa on arrival at major ports of entry. For many Canadian travelers, this means that Saudi Arabia remains one of the more accessible destinations in the region, even as the kingdom adopts a more stratified approach to risk and eligibility.
Saudi authorities have in recent years steadily expanded their e visa network, initially opening to 49 countries and then extending eligibility to a wider roster that now exceeds sixty, spanning Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. Citizens of Barbados, the Bahamas and Grenada were among the latest to join the scheme, underscoring the kingdom’s dual track strategy of broadening tourism partnerships while simultaneously tightening rule enforcement. Canada’s inclusion, along with that of the United States, the United Kingdom and Schengen member states, reflects Riyadh’s preference for travelers whose movements are already heavily documented through existing visas and residency permits in other advanced economies.
For Canadian passport holders, a standard Saudi tourist e visa typically allows multiple entries over a one year validity period, with cumulative stays of up to 90 days. The visa can usually be used for leisure travel, attending events, visiting family or performing Umrah outside of the core Hajj period. However, the growing complexity of Saudi visa tiers, combined with seasonal suspensions affecting certain nationalities, means Canadians planning to travel with extended family or business partners from other parts of the world may find itineraries more complicated to coordinate than in previous years.
Travel advisors are therefore urging Canadians to verify not only their own eligibility, but also that of any accompanying travelers, well before booking non refundable flights or accommodation. Mixed nationality groups, particularly those involving citizens of countries facing new single entry limits or temporary suspensions, may need to adjust travel dates, split itineraries or reconsider the timing of religious visits to ensure full compliance with Saudi entry rules.
European Biometric Systems Add New Hurdles For Canadian And British Travelers
While Saudi Arabia adjusts its e visa apparatus, Canadian, British and other non European travelers are simultaneously preparing for a fundamental reset in how they enter the Schengen Area. The European Union’s new Entry Exit System, a biometric database designed to track arrivals and departures by non EU nationals, began operations in October 2025 and is scheduled to be fully implemented across 29 European countries by April 2026. The system replaces manual passport stamping with automated recording of biometric and biographic data at external borders.
Under the Entry Exit System, Canadians, Britons and other non EU citizens making short stays in the Schengen zone will have their fingerprints and facial images captured on first entry, along with key passport details. Each subsequent crossing of an external Schengen border will then be logged electronically, allowing border agencies to monitor who has entered, how long they have stayed and whether they have departed within the permitted 90 days in any 180 day period. The European Commission argues that the system will help identify overstays more effectively and strengthen security checks without reintroducing internal border controls.
Closely linked to the Entry Exit System is ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorisation System, which is expected to come into force around April 2026. ETIAS will require travelers from more than sixty visa exempt countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States, to obtain online pre authorisation before boarding transport to most European Union and Schengen associated states. The authorisation, valid for up to three years or until the passport expires, will function in a similar way to electronic travel systems already used by the United States and Canada.
For Canadians who have grown accustomed to relatively seamless short term travel to Italy, Finland, Portugal and other European favorites, the combined effect of Entry Exit and ETIAS will be a new layer of pre trip administration and on arrival biometric checks. While the additional steps are not expected to be onerous in most cases, they will require precise advance planning, accurate data entry and enough time at ports of entry to complete first time biometric registration without risking missed connections or onward travel.
Italy, Finland, Portugal, Turkey And The UK Tighten Screening In Parallel
The trend toward stricter entry requirements is not confined to European level systems. Several national governments, including those whose citizens have featured prominently in Saudi Arabia’s evolving e visa policies, are introducing their own measures aimed at better controlling borders and migration flows. Italy, Finland, Portugal, Turkey and the United Kingdom all illustrate this pattern in different ways, with new thresholds, checks and restrictions reshaping who can enter, on what terms and for how long.
In Finland, authorities have adopted tougher standards for foreigners with criminal histories, raising the bar for both citizenship acquisition and in some cases long term residence. The reforms strengthen the power of Finnish officials to revoke citizenship in certain serious cases, part of a broader drive to align national security and immigration policy. For short term visitors, the upcoming European wide biometric systems will sit alongside Finland’s own risk based screening, raising the scrutiny level for some travelers compared with previous years.
Portugal and other Schengen states, including Denmark and the Netherlands, are working to integrate their border operations into the new Entry Exit System while tightening internal controls on overstays and unauthorized work. At the same time, Portugal has been actively promoting Saudi e visa access to its citizens, highlighting Riyadh’s willingness to approve electronic visas for Portuguese travelers and visa on arrival options for those who already hold Schengen, UK or US visit visas. The message to Portuguese tourists is that while Europe is becoming more data driven at its external borders, opportunities for outbound travel to the Gulf are expanding, subject to compliance with Saudi rules.
Turkey and the United Kingdom, both outside the Schengen Area, have likewise adjusted elements of their visa regimes, including higher salary thresholds and new sponsorship obligations for certain categories of foreign workers. The UK has proposed stricter criminality standards for applicants seeking indefinite leave to remain, signaling a firming stance on long term immigration even as it prepares to join Canada on the list of countries whose citizens must obtain ETIAS approval for future short trips to the continent. For leisure travelers, these shifts may be largely invisible at first, but over time the accumulation of enhanced checks, digital authorisations and higher documentation standards will make spontaneous cross border movement less straightforward than in the past.
More Than Eighty Five Countries Now Involved In New Travel Authorisation Regimes
Behind the headlines about Saudi restrictions and European biometric systems lies a broader reality: more than eighty five countries are now actively building, expanding or tightening some form of electronic travel authorisation, e visa platform or pre screening scheme. From the Americas to Asia and Africa, governments are embracing digital tools to collect traveler data in advance, filter out perceived risks and manage migration flows more precisely. Canada, already operating its own Electronic Travel Authorization for visa exempt visitors arriving by air, is both a user and a target of these emerging networks.
The expansion of Saudi Arabia’s e visa eligibility list to more than sixty nationalities and the layering of additional conditions on top of that framework illustrate the dual nature of the trend. Electronic systems make it easier to process large volumes of applications, reduce paperwork and speed up approvals for low risk travelers. They also enable rapid, often opaque adjustments to eligibility lists, visa durations and permitted activities, all of which can be recalibrated in response to events such as the Hajj season, security incidents or diplomatic disputes.
Meanwhile, Europe’s two stage model of Entry Exit and ETIAS reflects a growing consensus among advanced economies that free movement for visitors should be balanced by intensive data collection and risk scoring. Countries including the United States, Canada and Australia have long used similar approaches, relying on advance passenger data and electronic travel authorisations to spot irregularities before departure. What is new is the scale and synchronisation of these systems, with dozens of states now interlocking their digital borders in ways that will have direct consequences for Canadian and other travelers every time they cross an international frontier.
For frequent travelers, the implications are clear. Passport validity, previous travel history and the accuracy of personal information submitted online are becoming central factors in determining whether trips proceed smoothly or encounter unexpected delays. Errors in an electronic application or discrepancies between airline records and ETIAS or e visa data could result in denied boarding, secondary inspection or even refusal of entry, underscoring the importance of meticulous preparation.
What Canadian Travelers Should Expect In The Year Ahead
Over the next 12 to 18 months, Canadian travelers can expect a more fragmented and conditional experience when crossing borders, especially to destinations such as Saudi Arabia and Europe. The days of relying solely on a valid passport and a return ticket are receding, replaced by a mosaic of online authorisations, biometric registrations and highly specific rules tied to nationality, previous visas and even travel purpose. While this shift does not mean the end of affordable, accessible international tourism, it does demand greater attention to detail and longer planning horizons.
For trips to Saudi Arabia, Canadians should verify their eligibility for an e visa well in advance, ensuring that passports have at least six months’ validity and that all supporting information, including accommodation details and intended travel dates, is accurate. Those traveling with family members from countries affected by temporary suspensions or new single entry limits should check whether their companions will face different rules and, if necessary, adjust itineraries to comply with Saudi deadlines around Hajj and Umrah.
For travel to Italy, Finland, Portugal, Bulgaria and other Schengen states, Canadians will need to prepare for the twin realities of the Entry Exit System and ETIAS. Once ETIAS launches, applying for authorisation several days or even weeks before departure will become as essential as booking flights. First time biometric registration at European external borders may lengthen processing times, particularly at peak holiday periods, so allowing additional time for connections and arrivals will be prudent.
Ultimately, Canada’s inclusion among the countries most affected by these new systems is a byproduct of its citizens’ mobility. Canadians travel extensively for tourism, study, business and family reasons, making them both beneficiaries of streamlined digital systems and subjects of tighter screening. For now, the best strategy is to stay informed, treat visa and authorisation requirements as a core part of trip planning, and build in enough flexibility to adapt to rules that are still evolving in real time.