ARCHIVED – Notice – Strike Action
June 11, 2013 — The Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers (PAFSO) union is currently taking strike action. PAFSO union members responsible for processing visa applications have been walking out of offices in Canada and overseas without advance notice.
Posted processing times for both temporary and permanent resident visa applications do not take into account work stoppages. Anyone applying for a visa should anticipate delays and submit their application online as far in advance as possible.
To avoid delays, please submit a complete application. Some countries require additional documents that may not be listed in your application package. Find out if you need to submit country-specific documents by consulting the website of your visa office.
Contingency plans are already in place to ensure all offices remain open and are providing at least a minimum level of service. Priority will be placed on urgent humanitarian applications.
CIC continues to closely monitor the situation.
Apply online
Features
Visitors, workers and students can apply online for faster processing.
The Department aims to process applications as quickly as possible, and encourages visitors, workers and students to apply online or to visa application centers (VACs).
Electronic applications give CIC much more flexibility in moving case processing to offices with the capacity to handle them.
If you have already submitted a paper application, please do not submit an electronic application as this will only cause additional delays in processing.