Recently, during an interview, Canada's Federal Minister of Immigration, Sean Fraser, disclosed for the first time the list of cities in China where Canada will be adding seven visa application centers: Chengdu, Hangzhou, Jinan, Kunming, Nanjing, Shenyang, and Wuhan. Currently, Canada has visa processing centers in four cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Chongqing, all of which are first-tier cities. This means that it will be more convenient and faster for Chinese applicants to process their Canadian visa applications, which is beneficial for Canadian student visa applications and promotes family visits and tourism to Canada.
1. The significance of the new Canadian visa centers is substantial.
Currently, all Canadian visa applications from the three northeastern provinces and northern provinces must be processed by the embassy in Beijing. If Canada establishes visa centers in Shenyang and Jinan, it can effectively divert visa applications from Beijing, especially since the northeastern provinces are vast, and even a new visa center in Shenyang may not meet the demand. Nanjing can help alleviate the visa applications from Shanghai, Chengdu can reduce the workload of the Chongqing visa center, and Wuhan, located at the central point of mainland China, has a wide service area. Therefore, establishing more Canadian visa centers is an urgent necessity.
Sean Fraser stated that this list is currently under review by the Chinese government, and changes are possible, but "the chances of implementation are quite high." He said, "We hope that Canadian visa centers can be evenly distributed across China to facilitate Chinese tourists, students, and short-term workers in applying for and obtaining visas."
Historically, if applicants personally visit the Canadian visa center to submit family visit visa applications, the approval speed is much faster than submitting by mail. Therefore, if more cities in China are added to process Canadian visa applications, it will be convenient for applicants to apply in person. Many Chinese tourists who previously worried about the complicated and lengthy Canadian visa application process will likely be willing to apply for a visa to Canada in the future.
2. The Canadian Immigration Department hopes to attract more international students to immigrate.
Currently, over 70% of Chinese international students are concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario, particularly in the Greater Toronto Area and Greater Vancouver. However, outside of major cities, Canada has many excellent universities that can accommodate Chinese students. Therefore, even if the Canadian federal government intends to double the current number of 120,000 Chinese international students, Canada can certainly accommodate them.
From an economic perspective, international students in Canada generally pay tuition fees that are three times that of local students, and after arriving in Canada, they will generate a series of expenditures, which also encourages parents and family members in China to visit Canada more frequently, without increasing the burden on the government, thus having a positive impact on Canada's economy.
In addition, to attract international students to immigrate to Canada, the Canadian Immigration Department recently made significant adjustments to the scoring criteria for Canada's "Express Entry" program. The reforms mainly include granting additional points to international students who obtain degrees in Canada; furthermore, some foreign workers applying for visas may also receive facilitation. It is reported that this move is primarily aimed at improving Canada's immigration system to attract economic immigrants to Canada, thereby developing the economy.