Canadian Visas for Mexican Citizens

A relatively recent event in Canadian-Mexican relations is the implementation of a visa requirement for Mexican citizens to enter Canada.  2 years ago, Mexicans could enter Canada with only a simple passport.  Apparently, too many Mexicans were falsely claiming refugee status in Canada after arriving as tourists, and thus the visa – I problem I most certainly agree needed to be addressed.  Unfortunately, though, from what I understand, it was actually Canadians who, in many cases were hiring out (illegal) services to Mexican visitors offering to show them how to gain refugee status in return for an absurdly large amount of funds.  This really is sad that Canadians themselves would be undermining our own immigration and refugee systems (both important and helpful when they are run properly), helping to create immigration problems.

I’ve also heard that the main point of the Canadian visa was really to make sure Mexicans weren’t sneaking across the border to the U.S., using Canada as a stepping stone.  Who knows.

In any case, the little annoyance for me is that twice now we had to apply for a Canadian visa for my wife, getting all the documents together, paying the fee, etc.  The first time, we were unaware that the visa would last only as long as the passport; my wife’s passport expired in 6 months along with the visa, even though we had paid double for a multiple entry visa. She now has one valid for 5 years.  This contrasts to the U.S. visa, which continues to be valid even if the passport has expired.  Her U.S. visa is valid for 10 years.

I’m happy about 2 parts; one is that the Canadian visa is a thorough process, requiring a fairly complete set of documentation – if we’re going to have this, it might as well be done right.  The second is that the people in the Canadian Embassy and the visa processing office are very organized, quick and helpful.  For example, for the first application, we forgot to send 2 forms from the application package.  They called us the day the application arrived and informed us.  Of course, they are very professional, and say nothing about the application itself, but simply being informed of the missing forms so quickly was encouraging.  We sent them the next day.

I hope some time down the road whatever the problem was that required a visa to be implemented will be cleared up and Mexicans will be allowed to visit with a passport again, but if not, it’s not the worst thing in the world.