Visitor visas decision not made based on facts
Niren and Associates Immigration Law Firm recently blogged about more people having trouble obtaining visitor visas to Canada. This is because the government is denying their visitor visas, saying they don’t believe the applicant will leave once the visa expires.
According to this article in the Montreal Gazette, the government really has little to go on when they make such a decision, because there are no facts for them to consider.
Vistor visas to Canada not tracked
In fact, despite the technology available to various government agencies, no one actually keeps track of how many people come to Canada on visitor visas or temporary visas and don’t ever leave.
According to Winnipeg North MP Kevin Lamoureux, who is currently petitioning for visa reform to make it easier for people’s loved ones to come and visit them in Canada, denying so many visitor families is costing the Canadian economy because it’s causing people who live in Canada to make the visit abroad instead. And according to what he told the Montreal Gazette, it costs an average of $10,000 for a family of four to go to the Philippines – money that isn’t being spent in Canada.
All that is currently recorded by the government are the number of visitor visas accepted or rejected. For example in 2010, 100 per cent of visitors from Swaziland, Germany and Monaco were accepted, while 100 per cent of those from the Central African Republic and Guadeloupe were denied visitor visas to Canada.
President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
