By Amrita Roy Chowdhury Majumdar
New Canadian Media

Dozens of Canadians of Indian origin are lining up to apply for a form of permanent residency status in India so they can visit their families after the country suspended visa services in Canada last month.

India’s Ministry of External Affairs announced the suspension of visa services because of what they said are “growing anti-Indian activities, politically condoned hate crimes and criminal violence in Canada.”

BLS International Canada Services Inc. is a service partner that manages visas, passports, Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) and other consular applications for the Government of India. Considering the recent diplomatic row between India and Canada, and no sense of when the suspension of visa services will be lifted, many Indo-Canadians are instead applying for OCI, which will give them life-long entry to the country apart from the rights to live and work there.

Ashutosh Jain and his family are scheduled to travel to India in seven weeks to attend his sister’s wedding. It will also be his first trip back to his home country after becoming a Canadian citizen. He needs a visa to travel because India’s constitution does not allow dual citizenship.

“I was planning to get an e-visa for the travel,” Jain said. “But with the current scenario, I had to apply for OCI. If we don’t get approved on time, I will have to cancel the tickets and miss the wedding.”

Jain drove to the parking lot outside the BLS International office in Brampton, Ont. at 11 p.m. on Oct. 1 only to find 15 people in line ahead of him for a walk-in visit.

“I’m pretty sure there were 30-plus people who waited all night with us, and the queue became much longer after 3 a.m.,” he said. “Close to 100 people were already waiting when the office opened at 8 a.m.”

 Jain was able to submit his application on Oct. 2 after waiting more than nine hours outdoors on a chilly night. He said using bathrooms was tricky for people waiting through the night, and the nearest café — eight minutes walk away — opens at 5 a.m.

He said he talked to people in the line who had driven as far as London, Ont., nearly 200 km away.

On social media, NCM found requests for help to stand in the queue at the Brampton office for $45 per hour.

Sheetanshu Tiwari posted his experience trying to walk into the Brampton office on his YouTube channel. He said when he arrived at 4 a.m. on Sept. 26, 45 people were already waiting outside. His video shows empty chairs and groups of people waiting — some seniors wrapped up in shawls to keep themselves warm and resting, while others chatted.

When the office opened, Tiwari said he learned he had a slim chance of submitting his application that day because the office accepts a limited number of walk-ins per day.

“Many left and others kept waiting,” he said. “At 10 a.m., BLS security staff told us about additional spots opening up for appointments online on the BLS website. I acted quickly and found one for Oct. 2.”

Applicants are hesitant to use the mail-in option to send applications because it’s slower. Also, if there are any errors or modifications needed to the application, they can be addressed during in-person meetings at the centre.

Tiwari, the YouTube and video blogger, noticed similar queues for walk-ins when he went to the office for the second time on Oct. 2. He said the first person in line had been waiting for nearly 11 hours.

Tiwari said he considers himself fortunate to have secured an appointment, which is rare. Most Indo-Canadians, including Jain and Tiwari, told NCM that finding appointment slots for OCI applications are “limited and taken within minutes.”

A look at the relationship between Canada and India

POPULATION

Canada is home to nearly 1.4 million people of Indian ethnic or cultural origin, about 3.7% of the country’s total population, according to the 2021 census.

More than 770,000 people reported their religion as Sikhism, about 2% of Canada’s population, and in 2019, the government designated April as Sikh Heritage Month.

India is the world’s most populous nation with 1.425 billion people as of April, according to the U.N.’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Sikhs are the majority in the northern state of Punjab state, but only about 1.7% of India’s total population.

TRADE

With more than $13.7 billion in trade, India was Canada’s 10th largest two-way merchandise trade partner in 2022, Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jean-Pierre J. Godbout said. Canadian merchandise exports to India totalled $5.3 billion, ranking ninth, Godbout said.

But Trudeau had frosty encounters with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Group of 20 meeting in New Delhi. Trade talks have been paused and a planned trade mission to India has been cancelled.

TRAVEL

Visitors from India rank as Canada’s fourth largest international air travel market, according to the census. In 2021, the 89,500 tourists from India spent $3.4 billion, the most of any group visiting Canada. Canadians visiting India spent $93 million the same year.

In November 2022, Canada and India reached an agreement to remove the restriction on the number of flights between the two countries, which had previously been limited to 35 flights per week.

Of the more than 800,000 international students in Canada at the end of 2022, 40% were from India, according to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada data.