Parents of state youth settled in Canada find it hard to get visas

Getting a Canadian visa has become increasingly difficult for parents of the youth studying there, and those serving in the Punjab Police.

According to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), as many as 21,19,900 visa applications were pending with them as on December 31, 2024.

“Our son, who lives in Vancouver, has his convocation ceremony scheduled for April. So, my husband and I had applied for Canadian visas but we both faced rejections because of some deficiency in documents,” said a schoolteacher. Another couple who had been planning to visit the country around the same time faced rejection.

“We are being told that things are becoming difficult,” said one of the parents.

Meanwhile, several Punjab Police personnel said it had become impossible for them to visit Canada even if their children are settled there.

“It was not a problem till about two years ago but since the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar (a Khalistan sympathiser) in Canada, Punjab Police personnel are facing maximum rejections. My son had completed his degree a year ago and he is working in Brampton. My visa application is pending for a year now. They are neither accepting nor rejecting it,” said a police officer posted in Hoshiarpur.

“It has been four years since we have met our son. We have told him now that we might not get clearance,” he added.

Njjar, a Khalistan sympathiser, was gunned down by some people outside a gurdwara in British Columbia province of Canada. The incident had resulted in a diplomatic backlash between India and Canada.

Another police officer said the problem was the same for the entire force, irrespective of whether someone was in service or had retired. An official posted in the police’s Intelligence wing said, “All those cops who managed to get multiple entry visas to Canada for 10 years are facing no issues. But those who have applied in the last one year are facing the trouble”.