Will Canada’s visa crackdown help or hurt ties with India?

Canada’s updated immigration guidelines to cancel already issued visas and permits could create a “chilling effect” for applicants, particularly those from South Asia, observers have warned.

The papers indicate that the Canadian Immigration Department and Border Services Agency are working with the United States to identify and cancel suspicious visitor visa applications.

A departmental presentation to the immigration minister’s office was said to have described India and Bangladesh as “country-specific challenges”. It suggested that the powers could be used during pandemics, wars or for “country-specific visa holders”.

The report cited Canadian immigration authorities as saying the new powers were not intended to target any specific nationality, but noted that officials had grown increasingly concerned about a rise in fraudulent visa applications from India.