Your plans to obtain a Canadian Visa is likely to get affected because of the ongoing diplomatic rift between India and Canada. Canada has decided to temporarily shut its consulates in Bengaluru, Chandigarh and Mumbai. The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada(IRCC) is responsible for processing all visa applications and it has announced that there will be a slowdown in the process.
The tension recently increased when Canada had to pull 41 of its diplomats from India after India decided to remove their immunity. The IRCC is going to reduce its workforce in India from 27 to just 5 employees. Only the necessary work that requires in-country presence will be given priority. These include urgent processing, visa printing, risk assessment etc.
The in-person consular service will however be available at the Canadian High Commission in Delhi. India had already stopped processing visas in Canada one month back. Canada is still allowing Indian citizens to apply for visas as Indians constitute a major part of their education system.
Most of the visa applications by Indians were already processed outside the country and it’ll not be affected by the move. However, the time taken for the approvals are going to increase.
