Anxiety, uncertainty for Indian diaspora in Canada as visa services on hold
Global News
Diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi reached new highs Thursday after India halted visa services in Canada. Many in Canada's Indian diaspora are worried.
The last time Rohit visited his parents, both in their 70s, in Mumbai, India, was December 2019.
A global pandemic and nearly four years later, the Toronto resident was excited about his upcoming trip this year. He had booked tickets for his entire family, which includes his wife and daughter, and was sure of his travel plans, until Thursday morning.
Diplomatic tensions between Ottawa and New Delhi reached new highs Thursday after India halted visa services in Canada. The news was first shared as a notice on the BLS Indian Visa Application Center’s website. BLS is the agency that processes visa requests for India.
“Important notice from Indian Mission: Due to operational reasons, with effect from 21 Sept. Indian visa services have been suspended till further notice,” it said.
For Rohit, who Global News is identifying only by his first name out of concerns that sharing his worries could impact his application for travel documents, this means he may not be able to see his ageing parents this year.
“This came out of the blue,” he said. “It totally took me by surprise.”
BLS processes many kinds of Indian visas, including visitor visas and Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards, for Canadians. Visitor visas are necessary for people without an Indian passport to travel to India. The Indian Ministry of External Affairs describes the OCI Card as a “multiple entry life-long multi-purpose visa which enables the holder to travel and stay in India, as and when he/she desires to do so.”
This is the latest diplomatic escalation between India and Canada since Prime Minister Justin Trudeau rose in the House of Commons on Monday and announced that there was “credible” evidence of “potential links” between agents of the Indian government and the murder of B.C. Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
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