Canadian visa services to face delays after New Delhi kicks out 41 diplomats

Canadian visa services in India are set to face hurdles after the departure of 41 diplomats, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said Thursday (Oct 19).

“Unfortunately, this mass expulsion will impact our operations, and client service will be affected,” she said.

The move to remove diplomats came after New Delhi ordered Ottawa to reduce its overwhelming diplomatic presence in India to 21 from 62 and threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity.

“We will now be forced to pause temporarily all in-person services at Consulates, until further notice,” Joly said. These consulates are in Chandigarh, Bengaluru and Mumbai.

According to media reports, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, or IRCC, will continue to be operational and accept visa applications from India but services requiring on-site verification and approval in a secure environment could face delays.

“As a result, the reduction in the size of the IRCC team will affect service standards for residents of India,” Joly said.

Five IRCC personnel remain in India

Under the new arrangement, just five IRCC personnel will remain in India and handle urgent matters, such as key clients, risk assessment, visa printing and performing immigration medical exams.

The rest of the workload will be shouldered by IRCC’s global processing network.

Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizens Marc Miller also said that the removal of diplomats will have short as well as medium-term implications.

Watch:Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India; Canada says, 'Will not take any retaliatory steps'

He announced that IRCC was trying to mitigate the impact of this crisis by transferring the burden on Visa Application Centres (VACs), which are managed by third parties.

It must be noted that India has already shut down its visa services in Canada for an indefinite period after explosive allegations by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing Indian agents of the assassination of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Immigration from India to Canada

As per data provided by IRCC, out of the 463,910 study permits issued to international students this year, more than 185,000 were granted to Indian students.

This figure is on track to surpass last year's record when Indians accounted for 225,875 out of 548,955 student visas. Additionally, in 2021, 431,645 permanent residents (PRs) were admitted to Canada, with India being the leading source country, contributing 127,933 PRs. Canada also continues to attract numerous temporary workers from India each year.

According to reports, India had given Canada a deadline of Friday (Oct 20) to withdraw 41 diplomats out of a total of 62. Failing to comply would have resulted in the removal of their diplomatic immunity.

(With inputs from agencies)

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