Skip to main content

Canada's New Visa Rules May Become A Nightmare For Indian Students, Workers

Canada's latest steps to curb migration is likely to have an adverse effect on tens of thousands of foreign students, including those from India. It will also negatively impact those who apply for work and resident permits.

These new rules have come into effect from the beginning of February and give unhindered powers to Canadian border officials to alter the visa status of students, workers, and migrants at any time should they deem such action necessary.

Under the new Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, Canadian border personnel are now vested with the powers to deny or reject temporary resident documents such as electronic travel authorisations or eTAs and temporary resident visas or TRVs.

This means that border officials can now cancel such documents, which include work permits and student visas. However, there are some guidelines which need to be met in order for them to reject permits and visas. This includes one which states that if an officer is not convinced that the individual will leave Canada upon the expiration of their authorised stay, they can reject their entry or cancel their permit even during their stay in Canada.

The discretionary powers to make such judgement is entirely vested upon the officer.

These new rules and regulations have a scope of uncertainty, and will potentially impact tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of international students and workers - of which Indians are the largest group of foreign nationals in either category.

Canada is among the most preferred destination for Indian students, workers, and legal migrants. Students alone, currently pursuing their higher education in Canada, account for more than 4.2 lakh Indian nationals as per government data.

Should a student, worker, or migrant get rejected, they will be stopped at the port of entry and sent back to their home country. In case a permit is cancelled while such a person is already studying, working, or residing in Canada, they will be served a notice to leave the country by a specified date.

Besides these categories, Canada also sees a massive inflow of tourists from India - all of whom also have temporary permits of different duration of stay. In the first six months of 2024, Canada issued travel visas to more than 3.6 lakh Indians. In 2023 too, Indians accounted for 3.4 lakh tourists in the first six months of the year as per data released by the Canadian authorities.

Those who will be impacted shall receive a notification by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada via email as well as their IRCC account. There is no clarity regarding what will happen to the money invested or already paid by such persons - be it towards their education or loans, mortgages or rent paid by workers during their stay in case of a sudden cancellation.

Just three months earlier - in November 2024, Canada had closed down the Student Direct Stream or SDS visa program - a preferred route for Indian students who were willing to guarantee money upfront to be assured of their education in the North American country.
 



from NDTV News- Special https://ift.tt/NPJRQrc
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PM Modi To Reschedule 3-Nation Europe Visit As Tensions With Pakistan Soar

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has put his three-nation Europe visit on hold as tensions between India and Pakistan have surged in the wake of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam in which 26 civilians were killed by Pak-linked terrorists in a religiously-motivated terror attack. India responded on Wednesday with precision missile strikes on terror camps in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. PM Modi, who is closely-monitoring the situation, has reportedly asked for his visit to Croatia, Norway, and the Netherlands, which was due next week, to be rescheduled. As per his original schedule Prime Minister Modi was to commence his official visit to the three nations on May 13. He was also going to participate in the India-Nordic Summit in Oslo on May 15 and 16. All three countries have been informed about the change in PM Modi's schedule. They have also been appraised about the current situation between India and Pakistan. Last month too, on the day of the Pahalga...
Post a Comment
Read more

After Nitish Kumar's 'Praise', BJP Says Doors Closed For Him

The opposition BJP in Bihar on Thursday said that its doors were "closed" for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who dumped the saffron party a year ago, stripping it of power in the state. State BJP President Samrat Choudhary made the averment to this effect in reply to queries from journalists about the Janata Dal United leader's address to the convocation ceremony of Mahatma Gandhi Central University at Motihari. Speaking in the presence of President Droupadi Murmu and Governor Rajendra Arlekar, Mr Kumar had freely spoken of the tussle he had with the then Congress government at the Centre for getting a university approved for Motihari, where Mahatma Gandhi had launched the Champaran Satyagraha. Without mentioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi by name, Mr Kumar acknowledged that the project saw the light of the day only after a change of guard "in 2014" as the UPA government "initially refused and after much persuasion agreed in principle but did not move for...
Post a Comment
Read more

Delhi Air On Brink Of Turning "Severe", Most Polluted In India

Delhi's air quality was on the brink of the 'severe' category on Sunday with an overall AQI reading of 382 - the worst recorded in the country for the day. Fifteen monitoring stations of the city recorded air quality levels in the 'severe' zone, having AQI readings over 400, data showed. The city also recorded its lowest nighttime temperature so far, as thick smog and haze shrouded it in a dense cover during the morning and evening hours. The minimum temperature recorded on Sunday was 16.5 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees above normal, according to the weather department. The national capital's 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI), recorded at 4 pm every day, stood at 382, worsening from 316 the previous day. The locations where air pollution levels reached the 'severe' zone are Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, NSIT Dwarka, Najafgarh, Nehru Nagar, Okhla Phase 2, Patparganj, Punjabi Bagh, Rohini, Wazirpur and Vivek Vihar...
Post a Comment
Read more