India aware of delays in Canada visa processing for retired officials: Centre

The Centre on Friday said it is aware of specific delays in Canadian visa processing, including applications from retired Indian government and former MEA officials who previously served in Canada. India and Canada remain engaged on the issue, Parliament was informed

New Delhi: The government is aware of “specific instances of delays” in the processing of visa applications by the government of Canada, including those of retired central government officials and retired officials of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) who had previously served in Canada, the Centre informed Parliament on Friday.

Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said this in a written response to a query in the Lok Sabha. The MEA was asked whether the government of India is aware that the government of Canada has been “holding back” visa applications of retired employees of the Indian government, especially those who served in the MEA and were posted in Canada.

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“Yes, government is aware of specific instances of delays in the processing of visa applications by the government of Canada, including those of retired government of India officials and retired officials of the Ministry of External Affairs who had previously served in Canada. India and Canada remain engaged on this matter,” Singh said.

The MEA was also asked whether a list of such cases has been prepared and if the matter has been taken up with the government of Canada.

In response to another query, MoS Singh said as on date, 93 Passport Seva Kendras (PSKs) and 456 Post Office Passport Seva Kendras (POPSKs) are operational under 37 Regional Passport Offices (RPOs) across the country.

The MEA has taken several steps to expand the service accessibility and upgrade the network of PSKs and POPSKs across the country and to improve digital and online facilities for faster processing, the government said.

The MEA, in association with Department of Posts (DoP), has opened numerous Seva Kendras at the Head Post Offices (HPOs)/ Post Offices (POs) in each Lok Sabha constituency where there is no PSK or POPSK, Singh said.

In addition, the ministry has made available the ‘Apply anywhere in India’ scheme under which a passport can be applied for at any PSK/ POPSK. The Passport Mobile Vans have been widely deployed to allow on-site passport processing in remote, rural, hilly and less serviced areas, he added.