First the estimated wait was 269 days, then it was 390 – and then it ballooned to 687 business days to process a tourist visa for a Richmond resident’s 81-year-old Venezuelan mother.
That would have been two years of waiting for her mother to visit her in Richmond.
And, then out of the blue this Tuesday, Thaisbher Aguilar opened up her mother’s account and saw, to her surprise, the visa had been approved.
Aguilar wonders if this is because she met with her local member of Parliament to ask what was happening, but, whatever the reason, she hopes her mother can come to visit in the next few weeks.
Aguilar doesn’t understand why it’s so complicated to process a visa for a senior citizen, who has no intention of living in Canada.
“What are they looking for in an 80-year-old grandmother?” she told the Richmond News.
The government of Canada claims their priority is family reunification, and, yet, the process is expensive, complicated and lengthy, Aguilar said. Her mother applied for the tourist visa eight months ago, in November.
The last time Aguilar saw her mother was when they met in Ecuador four years ago. The Central American country was the easiest place to get visas, which is why they decided to meet there for a holiday.
But having to coordinate a holiday in a third country isn’t logistically easy, and Aguilar would just like her mother to be able to visit her in Richmond.
Now that the tourist visa is approved, the next step is to get her mother a “super visa,” one that will allow multiple entries over several years.
Aguilar notes her mother has been missing out seeing her grandson – after being rejected twice for visas in the past and the last eight months waiting for the current one.
“She’s healthy (now), but I’m worried – she’s 80,” Aguilar said.
Canada no longer has an embassy in Venezuela, and Aguilar thought perhaps that was the reason for the long processing time.
Immigration and Refugees Canada (IRCC) said in a written statement to the News that they have been adding staff and the wait times listed on website reflect historical processing times, and “may not reflect expected wait times for new applications.”
When Aguilar reached out to MP Wilson Miao’s office a few weeks ago, she was just informed of the wait time and told to check back in September as there wouldn’t be any updates before then.
All Central and South American visa applications are currently being processed in Mexico, Miao’s office explained.
