MP Kwan tables petition in the House of Commons on June 11, 2018:
Parliament VIDEO: Jenny tables a petition in solidarity with Hong Kong political prisoners and pro-democracy movement
"Madam Speaker, I have a petition to table, primarily from residents in Ontario. They are calling on the government, particularly the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, to make the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad fully operational so that it could grant spousal, student, and visitor visas without any discrimination. In particular, they note the travel advisory imposed in 2017 and that security and political conditions have improved. They note also family class immigration. The Canadian High Commission in Islamabad is not fully operational. Therefore, all processes are being handled in New Delhi, Dubai, and the United Kingdom.
On spousal visas, the processing of spousal visas in other countries is three to five months while processing for Pakistan is still 20 to 35 months. On the issue of student visas, the petitioners note that hardly any student visas get approval from Pakistan as compared to other countries in the region. Finally, on the issue of visitor visas, it is very hard to get visitor visas from Pakistan, despite having the applicant fulfill complete requirements, including letters from elected officials and declarations that the visitor would not likely stay longer in Canada."
