Visa delays push World Cup fans toward Canada

Flight bookings to Toronto and Vancouver are up sharply as fans from Latin America and elsewhere struggle with lengthy U.S. visa wait times and low FIFA PASS uptake.chosun+1
Over 120 civil rights groups, including the ACLU, issued a travel advisory warning World Cup visitors about risks of detention, deportation, and invasive screening in the U.S.aclu
American Airlines added over 25 daily nonstops to Toronto, while Air Canada boosted U.S. transborder seat capacity by 15% for the summer.

With the first tri-nation FIFA World Cup set to kick off on June 11, international fans are increasingly eyeing Canada as their gateway to the tournament, driven by a simpler entry process, growing airline capacity, and mounting concerns about traveling to the United States.

Visa Frustrations Push Fans North

Canada's electronic travel authorization, or eTA, costs just CAD $7 and is often approved within minutes for citizens of visa-exempt countries flying into the country. By contrast, the U.S. visa process has become a flashpoint. While the Trump administration launched the FIFA Priority Appointment Scheduling System — known as FIFA PASS — to expedite consular interviews for ticket holders, Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged the program only moves applicants "up in line" and does not guarantee approval. As of late April, only about 12,000 people worldwide had registered for FIFA PASS, a figure that sources familiar with the initiative described as underwhelming.canada+3

For fans from Latin America, the hurdles are steeper. Visa interview wait times at U.S. consulates in Mexico, Colombia, and other key markets had stretched to hundreds of days in recent years, according to reporting by The Athletic New York Times Company . South Korean outlet Chosun Ilbo reported that many fans from Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico view obtaining a U.S. visa as an exercise in futility, with some abandoning travel plans entirely.nytimes+1

In April, more than 120 civil rights and human rights organizations, including the ACLU and the NAACP, issued a travel advisory warning World Cup visitors to the United States about risks including "arbitrary denial of entry," invasive social media screening, and heightened immigration enforcement.abc7news+1

Airlines Add Seats, but Turbulence Looms

American Airlines , the official North American airline supplier for the tournament, is operating more than 25 daily nonstops into Toronto and seven into Vancouver during the match window. The carrier also added capacity on routes from Los Angeles to Vancouver. Air Canada has lifted U.S. transborder seat capacity by 15 percent and Mexico routes by 18 percent for summer 2026.aa+4

Yet the travel picture is complicated by soaring jet fuel costs tied to the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz. Air Canada has suspended six routes it deemed "no longer economically viable," while WestJet is cutting capacity by nearly six percent in June.cbc

Canada as a Continental Hub

Travel data from Sojern, which tracks over 350 million monthly traveler profiles, shows year-over-year flight booking increases of 12 percent for Toronto and 8 percent for Vancouver during the tournament window. Canada accounts for 18.4 percent of international flight bookings into U.S. host cities, second only to the United Kingdom.sojern+1

Toronto will host six matches at BMO Field and Vancouver seven at BC Place, giving Canada 13 of the tournament's 104 games. Travel operators are increasingly structuring packages around Canadian arrivals first, with onward connections to U.S. and Mexican venues — a strategy that sidesteps the consular uncertainty many fans now associate with entering the United States.jetpacglobal+2

Sources (44)