In view of the Coronavirus/COvid19 outbreak in China, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has temporarily closed all Visa Application Centres (VACs), which intake various immigration applications. Canadian visa offices are operating with essential staff only.
This situation obviously greatly impacts the processing of various types of Canadian immigration applications – temporary and permanent. IRCC is taking various measures to mitigate the hardship of the situation. At this time, in terms of temporary matters (workers, students, and visitors), IRCC is processing only urgent applications on a case-by-case basis.
Some considerations for those dealing with temporary immigration issues, caught in this situation, are:
- For those with an urgent matter, an email should be sent to the Canadian visa office at Beijing-immigration@international.gc.ca for consideration.
- Applicants who have sought any kind of temporary status not be penalized for failing to complete required steps in time, which would ordinarily have time limits. Such time limited aspects may include passport submission, taking of a medical exam, or providing biometrics.
- For Chinese nationals temporarily in Canada who cannot return to China due to travel restrictions, an extension can be sought. If status has already expired, then, if within 90 days of expiration, restoration can be sought, and if beyond 90 days of expiration, a temporary resident permit can be sought.
For anyone who might be eligible to apply through a country other than China (e.g. because they are legally situated in a third country), this may be one way to avoid the problem.
Anyone who is impacted by the situation noted above should seek appropriate counselling and take necessary steps in pursuing their matters appropriately.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.