Canada hopes for more visitors from India

With the opening of nine visa application centres in the country, including one at Ahmedabad, last week, the Canadian High Commission expects a spurt in the number of visa applications to Canada from India.

The permanent visa applications will still have to be made either at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi or at the Canadian Consulate General in Chandigarh.

"We have been experiencing a 20 per cent growth in the temporary visa applications every year and, with this new initiative, we expect a surge in the number of visa applications to Canada. Judging from the response, the high commission will consider opening more such outlets across the country," said Dominique Collinge, counsellor, Canadian High Commission.

Collinge was in Ahmedabad on Monday to formally inaugurate the centre. "Gujarat accounts for about ten per cent of all the applications and we expect this share to go up considerably, although Punjab will continue to be in a dominant position as far as applications are concerned," said Collinge.

The nine visa application centres have been opened at New Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Kolkata.

The Canadian government has selected VFS (India) to run the application centres.

The Canadian High Commission offers visas in two categories, permanent immigration and temporary visas. The commission sanctioned about 20,000 applications for permanent visas in 2004, while as many as 48,000 temporary visas were issued from the high commission in New Delhi and the Consulate General in Chandigarh.

Apart from this, about 5,000 persons of Indian origin applied for permanent visas to Canada from other Canadian missions in the world.

India accounts for about ten per cent of all the persons that permanently immigrate to Canada. In 2004, about 2.35 lakh persons immigrated to Canada, of which 25,000 were Indians.

"The share of Indians going to Canada is growing rapidly and among Indians, people from Punjab form a majority," said Collinge.

Temporary visas include those for visitors and tourists, students, business travel and temporary workers. Visitors and tourists account for a majority of the temporary visas issued by the Canadian High Commission.

Temporary visas are normally issued for a period of six months, but may be extend to a period of five years in case of a multiple entry visa, Collinge said.