It's everywhere you want to be - that's Visa's slogan. However, I would like to talk about another kind of Visa. The Temporary Resident Visa. For those who don't know, if you are a foreign citizen, and you want to visit Canada, unless you are from a select group of countries, you need a visa to even set foot in the country. This means that you will have to deal with Immigration Canada.
Now, in theory, this shouldn't be a big deal. You fill out a form, get a letter and a couple of documents, and you're good to go, right? The theory is great, but in practice, it doesn't always end that way.
To illustrate the point, my friend applied for a visa to come visit from Brazil. She is a full time teacher, she had money in her account, and a notarized letter from myself indicating that she was invited to stay for a set period of time, and that her expenses were already taken care of. Should be a no-brainer, right? Well, no, not quite. Her visa was rejected on the grounds that she was a threat to immigrate illegally. Now, illegal immigration does happen, and a country does need to protect itself from this threat. To this day however, I fail to understand how someone with a recognized, trained profession, from a country with one of the fastest growing economies in the world, is a threat to immigrate illegally. Brazil may not be the richest of countries, but a teacher is bound to make more money and have a higher quality of life there than an illegal immigrant working under the table here in Canada.
So, that was the first attempt at the visa. We tried again, this time with the assistance of a lawyer. I don't know for sure when the application actually made it to the Canadian consulate, but based on what I know, I am guessing that if the response were to arrive tomorrow, it would mean that the consulate held onto the application for at least 15 business days, probably more. Their standard of service is 5 to 10 business days. Our lawyer has attempted to correspond with them through their official email address - we have waited a week without response. My friend has tried to call the consulate, and they would either put her on hold for excessive periods of time, or not even answer the phone.
Now, this story does greatly anger and bother me for the obvious reason, but there are other serious implications here. Imagine being a Canadian citizen in a foreign country, and getting into trouble. What are you supposed to do? You are supposed to contact your consulate. What if your situation is an emergency, and you get put on hold, or worse yet, you can't even get the consulate to pick up the phone? Now, people may say that this is a normal occurrence for a government office, however I have had to contact the Brazilian consulate in Vancouver several times, and they have never put me on hold, and they have always answered the phone. Brazil has a reputation for being a corrupt third world country, and yet they are doing the job right. Canada is supposed to be one of the most advanced countries in the world, and yet it doesn't. This should challenge some notions about both Brazil and Canada, and should raise concerns over how our country is being run.
Another problem I have with this is that Canada is also supposed to be a very welcoming country - a place for tourists to dream about visiting. We are a polite and friendly nation. This image is threatened by this kind of behaviour from our immigration system. My friend is willing to accept that she has just had a bad experience, but she has felt that she has been treated like a criminal, and I agree with her. Tourist dollars are very important to our country, but who would want to go to a country that is going to embarrass them and treat them like 3rd rate citizens of the world? I also find it offensive that the only recourse is to either apply again, or challenge the decision in court. I would love to assume that these workers as a whole are trying their best to do a challenging job, but the reality is that they have no accountability to us the public, or to foreign citizens who wish to visit friends and family, and spend their money here.
Now that I've gotten all of that out of my system, this experience definitely leaves me nervous as I prepare to obtain my visa to Brazil. However, I am encouraged by how much more functional their consulate in Vancouver appears to be. Now, North Americans most definitely do go to Brazil, and take advantage of the citizens there, but the Brazilian government appears to be willing to trust that you will behave if they see no reason to think otherwise. I just hope my luck holds, and I am treated the same way.
Well congratulations to anyone who read through my entire rant. I'm long winded. If I get motivated, I may try to post this giant wall of text in Portuguese too.
