Canada has decided to expand its biometrics scheme in order to strengthen the immigration program through effective screening. The country will also apply some changes to the immigration policies in order to facilitate application processing for foreigners that wish to enter the country, while attempting not to lose the confidence of public.
Starting from July 31, nationals from countries of Europe, Africa and Middle East, will have to provide their biometrics, digital photo and fingerprints, when applying for the following visas:
- visa de turista
- permiso de trabajo
- permiso para estudiar
- residencia permanente en Canadá
Además, se abrirán nuevos Centros de Solicitud de Visas en los países ubicados en los mencionados anteriormente, para acomodar las crecientes demandas de sus ciudadanos, durante el verano y el otoño.
Según el Ministro de Inmigración, Refugiados y Ciudadanía, el Honorable Ahmed Hussen, con las nuevas medidas, Canadá intenta facilitar la mayor demanda de datos biométricos aumentando la presencia de los VAC en todo el mundo en los próximos años.
“Each year, Canada welcomes millions of visitors and accepts hundreds of thousands of students, workers and permanent residents. Visitors applying abroad use Canada’s Visa Application Centers to provide their biometrics and submit their applications. To facilitate the increased demand for biometrics, Canada is increasing its Visa Application Centre presence in the next 2 years. By November 2019, there will be at least 157 Centers in 105 countries,” he is quoted to have said.
By mid-September 2018 a Visa Application Center will open in each of the following capital cities:
- Kigali, Rwanda
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Tel-Aviv, Israel
Whereas, in early November four Visa Application Centers will open in the following cities:
- Athens, Greece
- Berlin, Germany
- Lyon, France
- Vienna, Austria
And, finally in early December will take place the opening of the last two VACs in:
- Antananarivo, Madagascar
- Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica
Los nuevos VAC, que son proveedores de servicios externos de propiedad privada, ofrecerán apoyo a los solicitantes de visas de Canadá antes, durante y después de que un oficial de Inmigración, Refugiados y Ciudadanía de Canadá evalúe su solicitud.