Canada passport to the US: entry and scouting trip budget

At a glance

Start with entry, then price the scouting trip that tests US in real life.

These indicators are taken from the entry checklist further down this page. Entry rules change, so check the official sources below before you book or travel. This is not immigration or legal advice.

Apply here, nowhere else

For most tourist and business visits, there is no US visa application and no ESTA application for a Canadian passport holder. That is the point of this page, and it is also the scam trap: a site that charges you for a Canadian ESTA or a tourist visa you do not need is not the official route.

• US Department of State: Citizens of Canada and Bermuda - official page stating that citizens of Canada travelling to the United States do not require a nonimmigrant visa, except for the listed purposes, and that permanent residents of Canada must have a nonimmigrant visa.

• US Customs and Border Protection: I-94/I-95 Website - official CBP site, rechecked 25 October 2026, where travellers can apply for a provisional I-94 and retrieve their I-94 record. The CBP page text read did not state a fee.
• USCIS: Alien Registration Requirement - official USCIS page, rechecked 25 October 2026, for the 30-day registration rule, including that nonimmigrants issued Form I-94 or I-94W are already registered, and that Canadian visitors who entered at land ports and were not issued evidence of registration are listed as not registered.

Do not pay a third-party site for an I-94 or an ESTA on the strength of this page. If you need an I-94 record, use the official CBP site above, and verify any fee there before paying anything.

Scouting trip budget, fixed maths

Flights are per person, the room is shared, daily spending is per person. Trip total is for all travellers. Per person is trip total divided by travellers, with no extra flight added. All flight and hotel figures below are editable examples, not sourced prices.

Quick estimate first: start with trip length, travellers, flights, and stay. Open Refine for daily spending, buffer, and any entry fee.

Entry checklist, short visit

• No nonimmigrant visa required for most visits: citizens of Canada travelling to the United States do not require a nonimmigrant visa, except for the purposes listed on the Department of State page, including treaty trader (E-1), treaty investor (E-2), fiance(e) (K-1), spouse of a US citizen completing the immigration process (K-3), and certain official, informant, and related categories.
• No ESTA: Canada is not part of the Visa Waiver Program in the ESTA sense, and Canadian citizens travelling on a Canadian passport do not need ESTA authorization for US entry. Do not confuse this route with Visa Waiver Program countries, whose citizens do need ESTA.
• Fee for a normal tourist visit: $0 for a visa and $0 for ESTA, because neither is required for most visits. This is not a fee waiver, it is the absence of a required application.
• Stay length, not automatic: Canadian visitors are typically admitted as B-1 (business) or B-2 (tourism) visitors, often for up to 6 months on an entry, but the officer sets the authorized stay for that entry. It is not automatic, and there is no guaranteed 6-month stay on every entry. Check your I-94 admission record after entry for the date you are admitted until, and do not overstay it.
• Per-person requirement: every traveller is inspected and admitted individually. Children and other family members do not travel on a parent's admission. Each person needs their own valid Canadian passport for air travel, and the document rules for land and sea travel should be checked on the official sources before travel.
• Permanent residents are different: permanent residents (landed immigrants) of Canada must have a nonimmigrant visa, per the Department of State page. This page is for Canadian passport holders who are Canadian citizens, not for permanent residents travelling on another country's passport.
• Transit: US airports generally require arriving international passengers to clear US border control even when connecting to another flight, unlike airside-only transit in some other countries. A Canadian connecting through the US should expect inspection and admission on the same basis as a visitor entering the US, and should verify the exact connection case with the airline and CBP before travel.
• Stays of 30 days or longer, check registration: the official USCIS Alien Registration page, linked above and rechecked 25 October 2026, states that aliens 14 or older who were not registered and fingerprinted when applying for a visa and who remain in the US for 30 days or longer must apply for registration before the expiration of those 30 days, that nonimmigrants issued Form I-94 or I-94W are already registered, and that Canadian visitors who entered at land ports and were not issued evidence of registration are listed as not registered. Land entrants who were not issued an I-94 are the group most likely to need to check this.
• Optional land-border I-94 fee: USAGov, linked below, states a $30 fee for a provisional I-94 applied for within 7 days before entry through the official I-94 website or the CBP One app. That fee is cited to USAGov, not to CBP, because the CBP I-94 page text read did not state a fee. Air arrivals generally receive an electronic I-94 automatically with no separate fee. The calculator default below is $0, because a normal air tourist visit has no entry fee.
• Not a move: visitor admission does not give work or residence permission. Work, study, or living in the US needs a separate immigration route, with its own advice.
• Processing window: no application to process for most visits, because neither a visa nor ESTA is required. The 30-day registration point is now verified on the official USCIS page linked above, and the $30 land-border I-94 fee is cited to USAGov, not to CBP, see Sources.

If you hold another passport as well as a Canadian passport, or you have a prior immigration violation or inadmissibility issue, check the Department of State and CBP guidance for your exact case before travel. This page does not cover those cases.

From scouting trip to move

A scouting trip answers questions a calculator cannot: which city feels right, what the commute actually feels like, and whether a US winter, or a US summer, is a place you want to live. If the trip goes well, the next step is a move comparison and immigration advice, not a longer visitor stay.

There is no exact Canada-origin move page on this site yet. Back to the homepage for the current move pairs.

Sources, checked 24 October 2026

• US Department of State, Citizens of Canada and Bermuda page, opened directly 24 October 2026: Canadian citizens do not require a nonimmigrant visa except for the listed purposes, and permanent residents of Canada must have a nonimmigrant visa.
• No ESTA for Canadian citizens travelling on a Canadian passport, and Canada not part of the Visa Waiver Program in that sense, from secondary summaries checked 24 October 2026.
• Typical admission up to 6 months as B-1 or B-2, set by the officer per entry, and I-94 as the controlling admission record, from secondary legal and traveller summaries checked 24 October 2026. Verify the admit-until date on your own I-94 record after entry.
• 30-day registration point, now verified on the official USCIS Alien Registration page linked above, rechecked 25 October 2026, and $30 land-border I-94 fee, now cited to USAGov, rechecked 25 October 2026, with the note that the CBP I-94 page text read did not state a fee. USCIS: Alien Registration Requirement · USAGov: Form I-94 arrival-departure record

Recheck the Department of State and CBP sites again at the next update, because entry rules change.