Government’s massive visa backlog leaving lives in limbo
Government’s massive visa backlog leaving lives in limbo
By Fabian Dawson
New Canadian Media
November 15, 2021
Opposition parties are calling on Canada’s new Immigration Minister Sean Fraser to address the red tape choking the visa-processing system.
Arvinder Singh is never far from the phone at his village in Punjab, India.
The long haul truck driver, who is looking forward to starting his job in British Columbia, has been waiting for two years to get his papers processed at the High Commission of Canada to India, in New Delhi.
Similarly, Sunil Kumar Manhas and Didar Singh, who have been offered truck driving jobs in Canada, have been waiting two years to get their visas.
“We just can’t get any answers,” said Wesley Richards, a human resources manager for a B.C. trucking company who offered them the jobs in an industry that currently faces a crippling shortage of 22,000 drivers.
A.B. Kumar, in Delhi, told New Canadian Media he has been waiting 14 months for a visa to join his wife in Vancouver.
“Last I heard from Immigration Canada was in March 2021 confirming I passed my medical examination….since March 2021 till now, there hasn’t been any communication,” he said.
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