The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Canadian visa centres for nine cities

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Feb 26, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Canadian visa centres for nine cities

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, FEB. 25. The Canadian High Commission today announced the opening of visa application centres in nine cities, including Hyderabad, from March 9, in the wake of a `dramatic' rise in the number of visa applicants

At a press conference here, the Canadian High Commissioner, Lucie Edwards, said the other centres would be located in New Delhi, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata. The Canadian Government had selected VFS (India) Private Limited for operating the new centres through a public-private partnership.

Stating that 50,000 visas were issued by the High Commission last year, she said that this was the first time that such a public-private partnership was forged for issuance of visas. The Canadian Government was watching with interest this experiment and would consider replicating it across Asia, Africa and other parts with emerging markets.

With this new arrangement, Indians applying for all types of temporary visas will be able to submit their applications across the counter at the nine centres . The applications will then be forwarded daily by courier to the High Commission or the Consulate-General in Chandigarh for assessment.

Ms. Lucie Edwards said that the ties between India and Canada were increasing by `leaps and bounds'. Trade between the two countries was to the order of two billion Canadian dollars, which increased by 14 per cent last year. A major trade mission from Canada would be visiting the country next month and companies would be looking for investment opportunities in Hyderabad, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai.

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