Canada denies Mumbai girl's plea for visa thrice

‎‎Even as Canada encourages more permits for Indian students, a 23-year-old student of psychology, Mumbai based Pallavi Singh, has been thrice rejected visa by the Canadian mission for an internship.

Singh had received an last year invite for an internship from a professor at the Simon Fraser University. Despite trying 3 times, the last with help from a consultant, she couldn't get visa apparently because she could not prove that she had sufficient funds to pursue the internship.

"I painfully collected funds for 2 years for this trip, by giving tuitions (I teach Hindi to expats in Delhi and Mumbai). And not just me, my father also had to take a huge loan from the Bank to see me realize this opportunity. I come from a middle-class family and education is our only route towards empowering ourselves,'' she said.

"However, despite having all the documents, my visa got refused three times. I am in a completely frustrated and disappointed state,'' she added.

While the Canadian high commission said that it was unable to provide information for individual cases because of privacy laws, it added that its responsibility was to make sure that all applicants met the requirements to come to Canada, as set out in Canada's immigration law.

"When a visa officer refuses an application, it is because the applicant has not demonstrated clearly that he meets the requirements set out in Canada's immigration law,'' said a mission official.‎

It is perhaps worth mentioning here that Canada has close tourism and people-to-people ties with India. Indian citizens are among Canada's top 10 international visitors. In 2013, more than 130,000 visitor visas were issued to Indian citizens and nearly 14,000 Indians were issued student permits, almost four times more than the number issued in 2008. It recently launched a new program in India, CAN+, which makes the visa process faster and easier for Indian visitors travelling to Canada.

For Singh though, the refusal has come as a rude shock. ``I always heard Canada is a great country with friendly people. However, I am a bit startled by the treatment of the Canadian Government's behaviour towards the applicants who are genuine. And my belief is starting to shake,'' she said.

http://ift.tt/1rHx53T High Commission,Canada’s immigration law

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