The ongoing conflict between Canada and India will slow down visa processing for Indians traveling to Canada. Canadian Immigration Minister Mark Miller confirmed this at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, October 19. The reason for the delay is India’s request from Canada to reduce the number of representatives in India. Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolly said that 41 Canadian diplomats left India.
This leaves Canada with only 21 representatives in India. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on September 18 that he had accused India of murdering prominent Canadian Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Miller said Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will reduce the number of Canadian workers in India. According to the statement issued by IRCC, IRCC staff has been reduced from 27 to five. Miller would like to reiterate to Indian customers, as well as Canadians who have family and friends in India, that Canada will continue to accept and process all applications for temporary and permanent residence.
However, the reduction in staff numbers will have a short-term impact. IRCC is trying to reduce the impact by streamlining the operations of its Visa Application Center (VAC), which currently processes most applications from India, but some work must be done via email. As a result, operations in India are expected to be delayed and service will be slow, Miller said. Customers will find that their applications take longer to process, questions take longer to be answered, and visas take longer to process in the passport. VAC is made by a third party and will therefore function normally. Applicants can also receive administrative support, exchange passports and submit biometric information at any of IRCC’s ten centers in India.
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Miller said new immigrants from India play an important role in Canada and IRCC will continue to welcome them. Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) in Canada will continue to accept students and process new applications, but unfortunately, at a slower pace than before. IRCC said most applications from India are being processed abroad. It is said that 89 percent of applications in India are processed through IRCC’s global network. The other five IRCC staff remaining in India will focus on ” in-country operations such as emergency operations, visa issuance, risk assessment and monitoring of key partners. ” Based on Miller’s comments, the IRCC letter states that Indian customers may experience delays with: passport India is by far Canada’s largest source of immigration.
More than 118,000 Indians became permanent residents in Canada in 2022, accounting for 27% of the more than 437,000 new permanent residents that Canada welcomed. In addition, Canada welcomed more than 226,000 Indian international students last year; this accounted for 41% of the more than 551,000 new international students admitted to Canada. In 2022, approximately 60,000 Indians became Canadian citizens. There are over 100 different business immigration programs in Canada. Indians are well positioned for Canadian immigration due to their good knowledge of English, education, jobs and skills.
Many Indians choose to study in Canada first and then decide whether to apply for permanent residence. Canada has an expedited study permit system called Student Direct Stream (SDS), which is a popular choice among Indians. IRCC data shows over 95% of SDS applications come from India.
