Government of Canada opens new visa application centers in Manila, Cebu

Hoping to attract more immigrants, visitors and students, the Government of Canada opened new visa application centers (VACs) in Manila and Cebu to make it easier and more convenient for Filipinos who wish to enter Canada.

 

"The Government of Canada plans to create new jobs and stimulate economic growth by attracting an increasing number of visitors as well as the world’s best and brightest talent to Canada," the Canadian Embassy said in a press statement Monday.

 

In an effort to speed up the application process for visas and permits, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is expanding their global network of VACs, which provides administrative support to applicants before, during and after their temporary resident application is assessed by a CIC immigration officer.

 

"Anyone wishing to apply for a visitor visa, study permit, work permit or permanent resident travel document is encouraged to use the new VACs," the Canadian Embassy said. 

 

Applicants may contact VAC service agents by phone, email or in person. The service agents are able to answer questions in local languages and to make sure that applications are complete. "This helps avoid unnecessary delays or refusals due to incomplete applications," the Canadian Embassy said.

 

However, the embassy noted that VACs are not involved in the decision making process and are not authorized to provide applicants with advice about their visas.

 

For an additional fee, VACs also offer other services, including photocopies, application photographs and self-service computer terminals for those wishing to take advantage of the new online applications. 

 

The new VACs are located at:

 

Manila:  6F Unit 608, Ecoplaza Building, 2305 Chino Roces Ave. Extension, Makati City

 

Cebu:    9th Floor Keppel Center, Unit 905, Samar Loop cor. Cardinal Rosales Ave., Cebu Business Park, Cebu City

Top destination

 

Canada is among the top 10 destinations of Pinoys abroad, with 842,651 Filipinos in the country. 

 

As of 2010, Filipinos were the third biggest foreign population in Canada, according to data from the 2010 International Migration Outlook of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

"Much of the community's growth in Canada is due to Filipino dominance of the caring industries. The Live-In Caregiver Program, a stream that brings in nannies and care-workers for children and the elderly, is consistently more than 90 per cent Filipino," Joe Friesen wrote in The Globe and Mail. 

 

Most of those in the first wave of Filipinos in Canada in the 1960s had university degrees, wrote Friesen, citing research by Dr. Aprodicio Laquian. "The next big wave coincided with the movement to import domestic workers and live-in caregivers, primarily women with lower educational levels, which began in the early 1980s," Friesen wrote.
 

Over a hundred thousand Filipinos became Canadian citizens from 1999 to 2008. Meanwhile, there are only over a thousand Filipino students among some 240,000 foreign students in Canada. In an effort to bring in more Filipino students, the Canadian Embassy held its first Study in Canada Fair in the Philippines early this year. — Carmela G. Lapeña/RSJ, GMA News