O Canada, where’s Pierre Trudeau’s legacy?
Dear Editor,
Going by how the Canadian High Commission in Kingston is treating Jamaicans, it’s clear that the tremendous goodwill gained for Canada by its late former prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, is being destroyed.
Ironically, the American Embassy, which once treated Jamaicans with great disdain, is now street and lanes ahead of the Canadians in the quality of their dealings with us.
For the visitor visa application process, the Canadians are asking that we fill out three forms which are online. Among the extremely intrusive information they are asking for are in-laws, and believe it or not, deceased relatives. They also want names, addresses and vocation of all relatives wherever they are in the world; then the applicant must buy a pre-addressed courier envelope in which to put the application documents, take that to the High Commission and leave it until notified.
No enquiries are entertained during that period. After the stipulated period, which is a moving goalpost, the courier is to notify the applicant to collect or they can deliver the package with passport to the applicant. In the meantime, a lot of money has been spent on visa fees, passport pictures, courier envelopes, printing forms, copying documents establishing ties such as property titles. Pray that it’s not a family or group as the cost gets even more horrendous. Remember that nothing is refundable.
During all of this, the applicant has no idea whether he or she is getting a visa, until the package is delivered via the courier. In the event the visa is granted, it is valid for no more than five years and certainly for no longer than the validity of the passport.
In comparison, the US gives an appointment, at which time one knows if one is getting the visa. It is only when one is getting a visa that the paid courier comes in. The US wisely gives up to 10 years and it is not related to the expiration of the passport.
Why do the Canadians need so much information not pertaining to the ties of the applicant? Deceased relatives? In-laws? If, for example, I qualify for a visa, would they turn me down because of some possibly unknown, or even rogue relative dead or alive? This is grossly unfair and Mr Trudeau must be turning in his grave!
Toni Middleton
frenchie8593@hotmail.com
