Operational Bulletin 497 – January 29, 2013

Closure and Transfer of Visa and Immigration Services of the Canadian Embassy in Caracas  

Summary

This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides information on the closure of the visa office in Caracas. It also provides information about the transfer of visa and immigration services.

Background

The authorities closed the Visa and Immigration Section of the Canadian Embassy in Caracas. This closure comes into force with immediate effect.

Instructions for Temporary Resident Processing

• For New Applications
• Applicants could submit new Temporary Resident applications:
• Online or,
• At the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Caracas
• Visa Application Centres (VACs) are currently taking applications for residents of Venezuela (Caracas)
• These Visa Application Centres (VACs) will continue to operate as before
• Hence, the authorities encourage the applicants to use those services
• For Applications in process
• The staff in Caracas is currently processing certain Temporary Resident applications
• They would continue to process and finalise these applications at that office

Instructions for Permanent Resident Processing and Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) Processing

• For New Applications
• Applicants would need to submit new Permanent Resident Travel Document (PRTD) applications to the Visa Application Centre (VAC) in Caracas
• These applications would be processed at the visa office in Mexico City
• Applicants would need to continue submitting New Economic Class applications to the Centralised Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (CIO-S)
• Applicants would need to continue submitting new Family Class applications to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (CPC-M)
• As of January 30, 2013, the following centres would need to forward files previously referred to Caracas for processing to the visa office in Mexico City:
• The Centralised Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (CIO-S)
• The Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (CPC-M)
• The Case Processing Centre in Ottawa, Canada (CPC-O) and,
• The Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Canada (CPC-V)
• For Applications in process
• The staff have transferred applications currently in process in Caracas to the visa office in Mexico City
• They have also transferred all the original supporting documents that accompanied applications
• Therefore, applicants who had already sent their documents to the Canadian Embassy in Caracas do not need to re-send them

External Client Enquiries

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) would take all efforts to minimise processing delays. This is especially so during the transition period. During this time however, applicants and their representatives would need to avoid contacting the visa office. The visa offices would contact applicants directly. They would do so as soon as they complete the processing of the application.

Applicants could however, direct their enquiries to the appropriate visa office. Moreover, if the applicants are in Canada, they could send their enquiries via e-mail to [email protected].

Applicants could refer to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) website for further details.

The Expiry of Directives

These directives would remain in force until further notice. If applicable, the authorities would communicate further instructions as and when they come into effect.

Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)