From today's papers ..
OTTAWA – The federal government has quietly outsourced the processing of visa applications to lighten the load at some of its busiest embassies around the world.
The latest one to hire some help is Canada's embassy in China.
The move to allow third-party service providers has raised concerns by some Canadian immigration consultants that foreign nationals who are applying for visas to visit or live in Canada may not enjoy the same privacy or security rights they would receive by applying through a Canadian embassy. Moreover, those who apply through these third-party firms may pay additional fees that they would not pay by applying directly through an embassy.
The federal government is outsourcing the processing of visa applications — including those from China — to lighten the load at some of its busiest embassies.
The federal government is outsourcing the processing of visa applications — including those from China — to lighten the load at some of its busiest embassies.Last week, VFS Global Services Pvt. Ltd, a Mumbai, India-based subsidiary of Kuoni Travel Holding Ltd. of Zurich, Switzerland began accepting applications for temporary visitor permits on behalf of the Canadian Embassy in China. Immigration consultants in Canada say VFS Global was required to get a licence to operate from the Government of China.
“I see some real problems with this,” said John Ryan, a Toronto-based immigration consultant who operated an immigration consultancy in China. “You have no expectation of any kind of privacy.” … [Read the rest of the story]
You can check out the Website VFS Global has set up for its Canada-China operation.
Technorati Tags: Canada – Foreign Policy, immigration