Toronto: The Canadian government has sought power through pending legislation to enforce mass cancellation of temporary visas which could be directed towards fraudulent applications from India, according to a media report.
The outlet CBC News cited a presentation from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA), as well as unidentified American departments, to use a proposed mass cancellation provision in a bill before parliament to be extended to “deter” fraud in the system from temporary visas applicants from India.
The presentation listed just India and Bangladesh as the “country-specific challenges”, in this context. The legislation proposes mass cancellation for a pandemic or war, but Canadian authorities, as per the report, were interested in targeting “country-specific visa holders”.
Temporary residents include workers, international students as well as visitors.
The provision is part of legislation aimed at strengthening Canada’s borders.
Earlier, immigration lawyer Sumit Sen told the Hindustan Times that there was “some fear” of “mass cancellation of applications if the Liberal government passes its Strong Borders bill, which would grant the Minister sweeping new powers.”
He pointed out that files were closed in 2007 “in order to clear the backlog created by an inefficient immigration system.” He made those comments in the context in growing processing time for applications, including up to 420 months for entrepreneurs under the StartUp visa stream.
{{/usCountry}}He pointed out that files were closed in 2007 “in order to clear the backlog created by an inefficient immigration system.” He made those comments in the context in growing processing time for applications, including up to 420 months for entrepreneurs under the StartUp visa stream.
{{/usCountry}}The proposed measure comes at a time when Ottawa is looking a reducing immigration into the country, both permanent and temporary. That has already led to drastic reduction of numbers in categories where Indians are the largest cohort.
In a report on Sunday, Reuters noted that about 74% of Indian applications for permits to study at Canadian post-secondary institutions in August – the most recent month available – were rejected, compared to about 32% in August 2023, according to Immigration department data.
The Government of Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to unveil its immigration levels plan this month and is under pressure to reduce intake amid growing anti-immigration sentiment in the country.