ARCHIVED – Notice – Visa services no longer available at the Canadian Embassies in Germany and Japan and at the Canadian High Commissions in Malaysia and Bangladesh

April 30, 2012 — Effective April 30, 2012, the Visa and Immigration Sections at the Canadian Embassies in Germany (Berlin) and Japan (Tokyo) and the Canadian High Commissions in Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) and Bangladesh (Dhaka) are closed to the public.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) is making changes to the way it operates in Canada and abroad. It is stepping up the pace of modernizing the way it works. It is reducing overhead costs, and continuing to streamline programs and operations by moving processing to where capacity exists and centralizing some of this work in Canada. The decision to close these visa offices is tied to that strategy.

Residents and nationals previously served by these visa offices will now be served by visa offices in neighbouring countries as outlined below.

New temporary resident applications:

Applicants previously serviced by the visa office in Kuala Lumpur should now submit their application to the visa office in Singapore.

The visa office in Singapore will also now begin accepting all temporary resident applications for those previously serviced by the visa office in Dhaka. Applicants can also submit their application through the visa application centres (VACs) in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.

Anyone previously serviced by the visa office in Berlin should now submit their application to the visa office in Vienna.

Finally, applicants previously serviced by the visa office in Tokyo should now submit their application to the visa office in Manila.

Applicants wishing to apply under the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD) International Experience Canada program (IEC) should continue to submit their application to the Canadian Embassies in Berlin or Tokyo. Any application that makes it past the first screening will be sent by DFAIT to the appropriate visa office in Vienna (for Berlin) or Manila (for Tokyo) for final processing.

New permanent resident applications:

All new applications for the Federal and Quebec Skilled Worker Programs, Federal Immigrant Investor Program, Provincial Nominee Program and Canada Experience Class should continue to be sent first to the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (CIO-S). All new sponsorship applications must also first be mailed to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada (CPC-M). Applications that have received positive eligibility will be transferred to the visa office now responsible for further processing.

Self-employed persons and Quebec-selected business applications should continue to be sent directly to the visa offices, and their submission follows the same redistribution of visa services as listed above.

If you already submitted an application:

Temporary resident applications that have already been submitted at visa offices in Kuala Lumpur, Dhaka, Berlin, and Tokyo will continue to be processed to completion.

All permanent resident applications currently at visa offices that have been closed will be transferred to the visa office now responsible, where processing will resume.

Economic and Family Class applications that have already been submitted to the CIO-S or CPC-M and have received positive eligibility will be redirected to the appropriate visa office. Applicants are not required to contact the offices to ensure their application is redirected.

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