Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) Minister Diane Finley recently announced that, effective immediately, travelers from Poland, Hungary, Slovakia,and Lithuania will no longer need to obtain Temporary Resident Visas to visit Canada. These four countries are latest European Union Member States to begranted visa-free status in Canada's ongoing review of visa requirements for all EU countries.

"We are committed to the free and secure movement of people between the EU and Canada," stated Minister Finley. "We are also committed to the objective ofvisa-exempt status for all EU members."

For the EU's twelve most recently acquired New Member States, Canada initially required visitor visas for seven of them. These requirements were lifted forcitizens of Estonia in 2006 and the Czech Republic and Latvia in 2007. With the requirements now eliminated for Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and Lithuania, there are only two EU countries for whom citizens are still requiredto obtain a visa. CIC will be working with these two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, to determine if visa requirements for its citizens can be removed aswell.