Foreign students suffer due to visa rule changes
By Albert Smith | Thu, 07/16/2009 - 22:22
Christian Fierro was very happy until Tuesday about leaving his job and family in Mexico as he planned to move to Edmonton in order to study business at the University of Alberta. But with the introduction of new visa requirements for Czechs and Mexicans, his academic future suddenly seems to go nowhere.
The incoming MBA student has been informed by the university that as per the new rules he must have a temporary resident visa in addition to the study permit he applied for in the month of June. And because it normally takes two to three months to get a visa, Fierro fears he won’t be able to get it before his August 24 flight to Canada.
On Tuesday, immigration minister Jason Kenney said that he is not worried about the fact that requirement of visas for Mexican and Czechs will spark retaliation. Kenney explained that a large number of refugee claimants from Mexico are economic migrants who belong to middle class families and therefore, they can not be allowed to jump the long line.
The two biggest sources of refugee claimants for Canada are Mexico and Czech Republic.
Ralph Paufler, spokesman of the Mennonite Centre for Newcomers in Edmonton, said that though the requirements for visas does takes away some pressure from the local organizations for refugee claimants, the changes will add to obstacles for genuine asylum seekers in Canada.
Paufler said that getting accepted as refugees in Canada will become even harder for genuine claimants after the new rules.
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