Notice – CIC Consolidating Visa and Immigration Services

January 29, 2013 — Effective January 29, 2013, the Visa and Immigration Sections at the Canadian Embassy in Caracas and the Canadian Consulates General in Detroit and Seattle are closed. In addition, the Visa and Immigration Section at the Embassy in Washington, D.C. will have some services transferred to other offices. 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.

Closures to our operations network are not simply a matter of achieving savings; they are also a result of the transformative change that is taking place in program delivery. For example, online submission of applications for temporary resident lines of business is now available and makes it possible to move processing to where capacity exists. By centralizing some of this work, we can reduce our overseas network with a view to better focus programs and services, streamline internal operations, transform the way we do business and achieve better results for Canadians. The decision to close this visa office is tied to that strategy.

Persons who have already submitted applications do not need to do anything. Their files will continue to be processed. People who are submitting new Temporary Resident applications should do so online. Persons applying for Permanent Residence should continue to submit applications to the centralised offices in Canada, unless otherwise directed by CIC.

If you already submitted an application

Temporary resident applications that have already been submitted at visa offices in Caracas, Detroit or Seattle will continue to be processed to completion at those offices.

All permanent resident applications currently in process at the offices in Detroit, Seattle or Caracas will be transferred to the office now responsible, where processing will resume. Applications previously submitted to the visa office in Caracas will now be processed in Mexico City and those submitted to Seattle or Detroit will be processed by Los Angeles and New York.

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.

New temporary resident applications

Applicants can submit Temporary Resident applications online or at a visa application centre where available.

For applicants residing in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico), Bermuda, St Pierre et Miquelon and the US Virgin Islands, unless otherwise instructed by CIC, all work permit applications will now be processed at the visa office in New York City and all study permit applications will now be processed at the visa office in Los Angeles. Applications for temporary resident visas will be processed at either New York or Los Angeles. Effective immediately the east-west division along the Mississippi in the U.S. will cease to be a determining factor in where U.S. based applications are processed.

U.S. citizens and green card holders can also continue to apply at ports of entry for work and study permits.

For residents of Venezuela, Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao, all Temporary Resident applications previously processed by the visa office in Caracas will now be processed at the visa office in Mexico City.

For applicants residing in the U.S. (including Puerto Rico), Bermuda, St Pierre et Miquelon and the US Virgin Islands, applications for Temporary Resident Permits (TRPs), Rehabilitation, Authority to Return to Canada (ARC) and Permanent Resident Travel Documents (PRTD) continue to be paper applications and should be submitted to either the visa office in Los Angeles or New York.

New permanent resident applications

All new Economic Class applications should continue to be sent first to the Centralized Intake Office in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada (CIO-S).

All new family class applications must 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.

For persons residing in the U.S., applications for Family Members of Protected Persons, Dependent of a Live-in Caregiver, Adoption (Citizenship and Permanent Residence) and One Year Window of Opportunity Provisions should be submitted to the visa office in Los Angeles for processing.