Canadian immigration officials deny the closure of severeal visa offices around the world has affected visa processing times.
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11 September 2012
Canada visa cuts blamed for student setbacks
A sharp increase in the number of international students who face the threat of missing the staert of the school year due to Canada visa complications has been blamed on budget cuts which have seen the closure of visa processing offices around the world.
The federal government has made significant changes to the Canada visa and immigration systems in the past year in order to introduce a more streamlined system. One of the changes made however, was to close visa processing offices in Germany, Japan, Iran, Malaysia and Bangladesh.
Jerry Wang, enrolment manager at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI), says there are always a few international students who miss the start of the year for one reason or another but never as many as this year.
"For different reasons they come late, some visas, some airfare things," said Mr Wang.
"This year I notice we have quite a few more visa delays."
Similar issues have been reported at other universities across the country, forcing contingency measures to be taken. Mr Wang says UPEI will be holding extra tutorial sessions and lectures for the missing students when they arrive to minimise the amount missed.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada denied the closure of the visa offices was impacting the visa processing system, claiming its targeted processing times were currently being exceeded.
The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent migration consultancy specialising in helping people make their application to the Canadian Embassy.
