160 Haitians received permanent Canadian visa: Kenney

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said processing applications has been a challenge because of damage to the immigration department’s operation in Haiti, as well as delays in medical exams and the difficulty carrying out security checks in a country where records, the police and judicial system have been devastated.

It is expected the special immigration program will increase processing volume in the next few weeks.

Canada has already issued 1,500 temporary resident Canadian visas, the majority to people accompanying Canadian citizens being evacuated from Haiti. Some 203 adoption applications have also been processed.

“In terms of prioritizing our immigration response to Haiti, we felt it was appropriate to focus on children who would probably be the most susceptible to the disorder, to the lack of clean water, shelter and the crisis in general,” Mr Kenney said.

The Canadian Visa Bureau is an independent consulting company specialising in helping people lodge their Canadian immigration applications with the Canadian Embassy.