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Canada updates its visa policy, giving officers discretion to issue single or multiple-entry visas
Air Canada pilots, represented by ALPA, gather for an informational picket at Toronto Pearson Airport ahead of a potential strike, August 27, 2024. (Reuters)
Shifting away from the practice of issuing multiple-entry visas, the Canadian government has revised its visa policy and will no longer issue tourist visas with a validity of up to ten years.
Under the new guidelines, immigration officers will now have the discretion to decide whether to issue a single-entry or multiple-entry visa and to determine the appropriate validity period. Earlier, the multiple-entry visa allowed the holder to enter Canada from any country as often as necessary during the visa’s period of validity. It had a maximum validity of up to 10 years, or until the expiry of the travel document or biometrics.
‘Multiple-entry visas’
“Guidance has been updated to indicate that multiple-entry visas issued to maximum validity are no longer considered to be the standard document. Officers may exercise their judgment in deciding whether to issue a single or multiple-entry visa and in determining the validity period,” the Canadian immigration department stated in a recent update.
This measure comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government — facing low approval ratings and anger over a housing shortage and a high cost of living — announced it is reducing both permanent and temporary immigration. Last month, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the Canadian government should have acted sooner to stem the flow of temporary migration into the country that has led to a housing crisis.
The flow of migration became “aggressive,” Miller told Reuters. “It’s safe to say that we own a part of that. It’s also safe to say, particularly on the inflow of temporary residents, that we perhaps should have acted a little sooner.” Miller said he is conscious of the role he and the government can play in the perception, reflected in polls, that Canada has too many immigrants.
Under the plan, Canada expects more than 1 million people in the country on a temporary basis to leave of their own accord in coming years as their visas expire. Canada will deport people who do not leave, Miller had said. “Temporary means temporary and permanent means permanent,” he added.
(With agency inputs)