Recently, the Canadian Visa Application Centre issued an announcement: Effective November 2, 2018, VFS Global Canadian Visa Application Centres in China will accept applications and collect biometric information in accordance with new service requirements.
In other words, all applicants holding Chinese passports who need to apply for a Canadian visa must visit a Visa Application Centre in person to provide fingerprints and pay an additional biometric collection fee of approximately 425 RMB.
Who Needs to Provide Fingerprints
The following visa applicants are required to provide biometric information and must provide biometric data upon entry:
(1) Applicants for work permits
(2) Applicants for study permits
(3) Applicants for temporary resident visas (e.g., visitor visas, family visit visas, business visitor visas)
(4) Applicants for Canadian permanent resident visas
Who Does Not Need to Provide Fingerprints
According to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada website, the following are exempt from providing fingerprints:
(1) Canadian citizens, Canadian nationality applicants (passport applicants), or permanent residents;
(2) Children under the age of 14 or seniors over the age of 79;
(3) U.S. visa holders transiting through Canada;
(4) Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) holders, etc., are exempt from providing them.
Where to Provide Fingerprints
Visa applicants must visit a Canadian Visa Application Centre located in various cities across China in person to provide biometric information and submit application materials.
Currently, in addition to the original five Visa Application Centres in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Chongqing), seven new centres officially opened on September 8, 2017, in Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jinan, Kunming, Nanjing, Shenyang, and Wuhan, and have begun providing biometric collection services starting in November.
Why Is Biometric Collection Required?
Canadian visa authorities use biometric information to verify your identity. Biometric information can: make it more difficult for criminals to steal or forge your identity; better process your application if your name, date of birth, and place of birth are the same as someone else's; and confirm your identity more quickly and easily the next time you apply to enter Canada.
Worldway Group experts remind investors that for Chinese passport holders applying for Canadian visas, there is less than a 3-month "golden period" remaining before the new policy takes effect. It is recommended that applicants with upcoming travel plans seize this opportunity and apply for their Canadian visa as soon as possible!
As a top 500 Asian brand and a leading institution in the investment immigration industry, Worldway Immigration Group offers high-quality Canadian investment immigration programs, including the Quebec Immigrant Investor Program which has a low threshold and provides a Maple Leaf Card in one step, the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Entrepreneur Immigration programs which allow for quick entry, as well as the Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Programs for entrepreneurs that provide a Maple Leaf Card in one step. These programs help investors realize their dreams of the "Maple Leaf Country" and establish a second home overseas. For details, please call: 400-138-2929.