Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, Sean Fraser, has announced that temporary resident visa (TRV) processing time for Pakistani applicants has been reduced from 802 days to only 60 days, with a possibility of a further decrease to 30 days soon.
Taking to Twitter, the Minister noted that the reason Canada’s official website is showing 802 days is that they are still processing older applications, which were submitted during coronavirus-related travel restrictions.
Attention Pakistani visa applicants ??
Visa processing times are not 802 days for new applications. Currently, a complete TRV application from Pakistan will be processed in 60 days, and we expect to hit 30 days in the near future.
— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) May 4, 2023
He revealed that the backlog for Pakistani TRV applications has been drastically lowered from 55,000 to merely 15,000. In addition, Fraser revealed that the Canadian government is planning to launch a new processing center in Islamabad to expand processing and interview capacity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Canada to Expedite Visa Process for Businessmen
Last month, Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan, Leslie Scanlon, told Commerce Minister, Syed Naveed Qamar, that the Canadian government is working to speed up the visa process for the Pakistani business community.
The envoy met with the Commerce Minister in order to discuss ways to bolster trade relations between both countries.
The Minister lauded the upcoming Canadian General Preferential Tariff (GPT+) program for developing countries and expressed hope that this program will be beneficial for Pakistan, especially for its newly proposed industries like apparel and footwear.
Source: Pro Pakistani