Travelling to the land of Maple and snow will now be easier and quicker, with the inauguration of the visa office at the Consulate General of Canada here on Tuesday.
It will cater to six visa centres and will cover 10 States in south and western India. Since the launch of its processing operations in September, the office – located at World Trade Centre in Yeswantpur – has already received nearly 10,000 visas.
Inaugurating the centre, Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander said the office reaffirms “strengthening” relations with India. Apart from Bengaluru, Canada has a consulate in Chandigarh and an embassy in New Delhi.
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“While we are consolidating offices in other countries, we are opening more in India. We get around 1,85,000 applications a year from India, and it will only grow as business relations strengthen,” Mr. Alexander said.
He highlighted the newly-launched Start-up Visa programme that allows for entrepreneurs to access funding from venture capitalists in Canada. Bengaluru tops the country in hosting the most number of start-ups. “For six months, the entrepreneur can come to Canada to seek funding,” he said.