High Commissioner
Tariq Azim Khan hosted a dinner in honour of Mr. Ahmed Hussain, Canadian
Minister of Immigration and Citizenship at the Pakistan House Ottawa, says a
press release received here today from Canada.
The High Commissioner
briefed the Minister about Visa difficulties being faced by Pakistani students
and businessmen. He said that the stringent and lengthy visa processing delays
for bona fide students from Pakistan has been discouraging.
He also informed the
Minister that the existing trade relations between the two countries need to be
given boost and allowing genuine traders to visit Canada to meet with their
counterparts can provide required impetus to trade volume between the two
countries. He urged the Minister that bottlenecks in processing of visas to
students and traders should be removed.
The Immigration Minister
said that as a matter of policy, the government is working to reduce backlogs
and speed up the processing of visa applications in order to allow genuine
students and traders to visit Canada.
He assured the High
Commissioner that he will personally look into the complaints of bona
fide applicants from Pakistan during his upcoming visit to the processing
centers in the region. He informed the High Commissioner that progress has been
made to speed up family re-union cases. He assured to support Pakistani
international students on University campuses in Canada.
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