The Iranian Canadian Congress has launched a formal parliamentary petition asking the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship to open Visa Application Centre(s) in Iran.
This parliamentary petition has been initiated by the ICC Policy Chair Pouyan Tabasinejad and has been kindly sponsored by MP Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East).
Please take the following steps:
1. Click here to sign the petition.
2. Fill out the form below to register in our email list. We will provide you more details about our campaign and update you about the next steps.
3. Share the following link with your network and ask them to join this campaign and sign the petition: www.iccongress.ca/VAC
Since 2000, the Canadian government has contracted Visa Application Centres (VACs) to provide administrative support to visa posts (Canadian Embassies and Consulates abroad) in the processing of temporary resident applications and permanent resident travel document applications. While the initial offices were chosen based on volume in applications to justify the opening of a VAC, their expansion was boasted as enabling the provision of standardized services in both high and low volume areas given IRCC was moving towards the implementation of biometrics, which was formally introduced in 2013.
In February 2018, IRCC announced its intention to invest $26 million dollard to expand VACs around the globe to at least 149 locations in 99 countries. Given that Iran has for many years been a leading source country for applications made through VACs, we call on Iranian-Canadians to demand the opening of one or more VACs in Iran.
Presently, based on the governments public statistics available here, Iran is the 5th source country for visitor visa applications, and 7th source country for student visa applications; there is no data available for work permits and permanent resident travel document applications. China, being the leading source country for such applications, enjoys 7 VACs within its borders, and will likely see the addition of more through the present expansion initiative. It's time Iran gets its first.
Please take the following steps to sign the petition and join this campaign:
1. Click here to sign the petition.
2. Fill out the form below to register in our email list. We will provide you more details about our campaign and update you about the next steps.
3. Share the following link with your network and ask them to join this campaign and sign the petition: www.iccongress.ca/VAC